Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) in China

What TMT in China covers and why it is regulated differently

TMT in China, meaning technology, media and telecoms, is the part of the economy where commercial opportunity and state oversight meet most directly. The market is enormous and technically advanced, from cloud and AI to games, short video, e-commerce, satellites and drones. Yet almost every business model touches at least one of four regulatory concerns: control of telecommunications networks, control of content and public opinion, security of data, and national technological self-reliance. Those concerns explain why a software company, a streaming service and a chip designer can face entirely different market access rules even when they share customers.

For foreign companies the result is a sector in which some activities are fully open, some are open only in pilot zones or through partnerships, and some remain prohibited to foreign investment. For Chinese technology companies going abroad, the mirror image applies: export controls, data rules and foreign investment screening in the US, EU and elsewhere shape where they can sell, list and acquire.

This page explains the regulatory landscape for TMT in China, introduces each of our TMT sector pages, and highlights the cross-border issues that most often decide whether a deal or market entry works.

Policy direction in 2026

The policy signals for 2026 point in two directions at once. On one side, the government is promoting technology-led growth: the "AI Plus" initiative, support for computing infrastructure, the low-altitude economy and commercial space, and the Private Economy Promotion Law in force since May 2025 all encourage investment. On the other side, security-driven rules on data, content, critical technologies and supply chains continue to tighten, and the strategic competition with the US shapes which technologies can be bought, sold or shared. Successful businesses plan for both: they align with industrial policy to access incentives and partners, while building compliance programmes that assume closer scrutiny of data, algorithms and foreign links.

The regulators for TMT in China

No single authority governs the sector. Which regulators matter depends on whether a business carries traffic, publishes content, processes personal information, sells online or develops controlled technology. The table below is a working map.

Sector-specific bodies add further layers: the civil aviation authorities for drones and the low-altitude economy, the national space administration for satellites and launches, and the National Data Administration, created in 2023, which drives policy on data as a production factor and on computing infrastructure.

Enforcement in the sector tends to come in campaigns, such as periodic clean-ups of app permissions, illegal data collection, online fraud or harmful content aimed at minors. Companies that maintain an up-to-date register of licences, filings and product features can respond to these campaigns quickly; those that do not often face app store takedowns while they gather documents. Regulators also increasingly coordinate, so a data problem identified by the CAC can lead to follow-up from MIIT or SAMR.

Licences and filings a typical digital business needs

A consumer-facing digital service in China rarely needs only one permission. A typical stack looks like this:

• An ICP filing for a non-commercial website, or an ICP licence for commercial internet information services.
• App filing with MIIT through the hosting provider or app store, required for apps and mini-programmes since 2023.
• Multi-level protection scheme grading and filing with the public security authorities for the information systems used.
• Algorithm filing with the CAC where recommendation, ranking or generative functions have public opinion attributes or social mobilisation capability.
• Content-specific permits, such as audiovisual, publishing or internet culture permits, if the service hosts video, games, music or performances.
• Payment arrangements through a licensed payment institution rather than self-collection of user funds.

Missing any one of these can lead to app store removal or suspension, so the list should be built into the launch plan rather than handled after go-live.

Market access: negative list, pilots and structures

Foreign investment access is set by the Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access, known as the negative list. The 2024 edition, which took effect on 1 November 2024 (NDRC explanation), reduced the nationwide list to 29 items and removed the last restrictions in manufacturing. The remaining TMT entries are significant. Value-added telecom services are capped at 50% foreign ownership, except e-commerce, domestic multi-party communications, store-and-forward and call centre services; basic telecom services require Chinese control; and internet news, online publishing, online audiovisual programmes, internet culture operations (other than music) and internet public information dissemination are closed to foreign investment.

Within that framework the trend is gradual opening. In April 2024 MIIT launched a pilot that removes foreign ownership caps for internet data centres, content delivery networks, internet access services, online data processing and transaction processing, and certain information services in designated zones in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen. According to Xinhua, 166 foreign-invested companies had received pilot approvals by June 2026, and the 2026 government work report called for further VATS pilots. Detailed analysis is on our telecoms and value-added telecom services page.

Where foreign ownership remains restricted, offshore-listed Chinese groups have historically used variable interest entity (VIE) structures. Since 2023 the CSRC's filing regime for overseas listings has required disclosure of VIE arrangements, and investors now weigh the regulatory, tax and enforcement risks of contractual control more carefully. See red-chip and VIE structures.

Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area angles

Hong Kong and Macau service providers enjoy some preferential access to telecom and audiovisual markets under CEPA arrangements, and Shenzhen's Qianhai and Hetao zones host cross-boundary data and technology cooperation initiatives. Many international groups run their regional TMT business from Hong Kong, with a mainland subsidiary for licensed activities. That structure can work well, but it does not avoid mainland licensing for services offered to users in the mainland, and data flows between the two still need a legal basis under PIPL. Our Greater Bay Area guide explains the opportunities.

Data, AI and content rules that cut across TMT in China

Three bodies of rules apply to almost every business in TMT in China, whatever its sub-sector. The first is the data framework: the Cybersecurity Law, whose amendments adopted on 28 October 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026 and raised penalties (Xinhua report); the Data Security Law; the Personal Information Protection Law; the Network Data Security Management Regulations, in force from 1 January 2025; and the March 2024 provisions that relaxed some cross-border data transfer requirements. Our cross-border data transfer page explains the export routes.

The second is AI regulation. China regulates AI through targeted rules rather than a single statute: provisions on algorithmic recommendation (2022) and deep synthesis (2023), the Interim Measures for generative AI services (in force from 15 August 2023), and the Measures for Labelling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content, in force from 1 September 2025 (CAC notice). The State Council's August 2025 opinion on the "AI Plus" initiative sets industrial policy, and reporting in 2026 indicated that comprehensive AI legislation is on the government's legislative agenda.

The third is content regulation. Platforms that host user content must operate content moderation, real-name verification and complaint systems; media, games and audiovisual services need content approvals; and advertising rules apply to influencers and live-streaming commerce. Protection of minors online, strengthened by regulations in force since 1 January 2024, affects games, social media and education products.

Critical information infrastructure and data localisation

Operators designated as critical information infrastructure (CII) operators must store personal information and important data collected in China within China and pass a security assessment before exporting it, and they face procurement security review for network products and services. Designation is made by sector authorities and is not always publicised, so telecom operators, large platforms, cloud providers and data centre operators should assume heightened scrutiny. Important data catalogues issued by sector regulators and regional free trade zone "negative lists" for data export are gradually making the boundaries clearer for TMT in China.

Our TMT sector pages

Each sub-sector has its own licensing and policy dynamics. The pages below explain them in detail.

• Technology: software, cloud, AI and digital services, with the cybersecurity, data, AI, technology transfer and investment rules that apply to technology companies.
• Telecoms and value-added telecom services: the telecom services catalogue, VATS licensing, foreign ownership caps, the 2024 opening pilot and basic telecom restrictions.
• Media and entertainment: film, television, online audiovisual, publishing, music and live events, including co-productions and content approvals.
• Gaming: game approval by the NPPA, minors protection, publishing and operation models for foreign developers, and outbound game publishing.
• E-commerce: the E-commerce Law, platform rules, live-streaming commerce, consumer protection and cross-border e-commerce channels.
• Semiconductors and critical technologies: industrial policy, US and allied export controls, China's own export controls and countermeasures, and supply chain restructuring.
• Data centres and new infrastructure: IDC and cloud licensing, the national computing network, energy and land constraints, and investment structures.
• Space: commercial launch, satellite manufacturing and communications, spectrum and the approvals that apply to private space businesses.
• Low-altitude economy: drones and eVTOL aircraft, the interim regulations on unmanned aircraft flight in force from 1 January 2024, airworthiness and local pilot programmes, including in Shenzhen.

Cross-border pressure points

Cross-border rules now shape TMT in China as much as domestic regulation. US export controls on advanced semiconductors, chipmaking equipment and supercomputing, expanded in several rounds since October 2022, restrict what Chinese customers can buy and what US persons can support. The US outbound investment rules that took effect on 2 January 2025 restrict or require notification of certain US investments in Chinese semiconductors, quantum technologies and AI. The EU, Japan, the Netherlands and others maintain their own controls and screening regimes.

China has built a parallel toolkit. The Export Control Law and the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items (in force from 1 December 2024) govern exports of controlled items; the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export has been revised to add advanced processing technologies; MOFCOM maintains the unreliable entity list and an export control list of foreign end users; and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and its implementing regulations allow countermeasures. Expanded controls on rare earths and related technologies announced in October 2025 were suspended for one year from November 2025, and companies should monitor their status closely. See export controls and countermeasures.

Questions to ask on any cross-border TMT deal

1. Does the target's technology, or the products it buys, fall under US, EU or Chinese export controls, and do licences cover the planned post-deal use?
2. Will any party need outbound investment notification or clearance in its home state?
3. Does the deal involve transfer of technology out of China that requires a MOFCOM licence?
4. Which data will move across borders during diligence and integration, and on which legal basis?
5. Could the transaction trigger merger control in China, where the 2024 thresholds apply, or foreign investment security review?

Deals, disputes and competition themes

Transactions in TMT in China are increasingly driven by strategic and state-linked investors, industrial funds and corporate venture capital, with exits through the STAR Market, Hong Kong or trade sales. The Anti-Monopoly Law, amended in 2022, and the revised merger filing thresholds of 2024 mean that more technology deals, including acquisitions of minority stakes with control rights, require SAMR review, and SAMR has power to examine below-threshold deals that may restrict competition. Our merger control filings page explains the process.

Platform conduct is the other major competition theme. The revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law, in force from 15 October 2025, adds provisions on data scraping, abuse of platform rules and unfair pricing pressure on merchants, sitting alongside SAMR's platform guidelines. Disputes in the sector frequently involve IP, particularly patents and standard-essential patents, trade secrets and copyright in software and content; see SEP and FRAND litigation.

Employment and talent issues are also prominent: non-compete obligations for engineers, employee equity incentive plans in pre-IPO companies, and national security sensitivities around foreign researchers. Governance of AI tools in the workplace is a growing compliance topic.

Chinese TMT companies going abroad

For Chinese technology, media and telecoms companies expanding overseas, the main legal pressure points are different. In the EU, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act govern large platforms, the AI Act phases in obligations for AI providers, the GDPR governs personal data and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation applies to acquisitions and public tenders. In the US, rules on information and communications technology supply chains, including the January 2025 rule on connected vehicles, and scrutiny of apps with Chinese ownership create specific risks. Southeast Asian markets offer growth with fast-changing data and platform laws. At home, outbound investment filings with NDRC and MOFCOM and Chinese technology export controls still apply. Our EU data and cyber rules for Chinese companies page covers the European side.

Common mistakes in TMT in China

• Treating a pilot zone approval as nationwide permission, when services must be provided within the pilot conditions.
• Relying on a partner's licence without contractual controls over content, data and termination.
• Assuming an enterprise-only AI or cloud service is outside consumer rules, when content and data obligations may still apply.
• Leaving export control classification of source code and technical data until after signing.
• Underestimating timelines for content approvals in games, film and audiovisual projects.

How TRW & Co helps

We help foreign technology, media and telecoms companies enter and grow in China, and help Chinese TMT companies expand internationally. Our work includes market entry and structuring analysis, cross-border M&A and joint ventures, technology licensing and international contracts, export control and sanctions advice under non-PRC laws, data transfer programmes, and coordination of multi-jurisdictional regulatory processes. We provide information on the impact of the Chinese regulatory environment and work with licensed PRC law firms where PRC legal opinions, licence applications, filings or Chinese court and arbitration representation are required, so clients have one coordinated team. Explore our AI in China guide, or contact us to discuss a project.