China instituted a licensing system for online taxi companies which requires that the personal information and business data should be stored and used in mainland China and must not be transferred outside of China. Such information should be retained for two years, except when otherwise required by other laws and regulations. The Measurement also regulates that servers of the taxi companies should be set up in Mainland China, with a network security management system and technical measures for security protection in compliance with regulations.

According to the Map Management Regulations, online maps are required to set up their server inside of the country and must acquire an official certificate.

China imposes strict limitations on companies that wish to offer VoIP services in the country. It requires a supplier to have a basic telecommunications service license to provide VoIP service.

Regarding Regarding IT services, complaints have been received due to the multitude of government licensing and accreditation agencies to contract which is problematic and time-consuming for foreign investors. services, AMCHAM China complained that the multitude of licensing and accreditation government agencies to be engaged is problematic and excessively time consuming for foreign investors.

China's telecom laws require all foreign firms that provide data center or cloud computing services enter into a joint venture with a Chinese firm and obtain an internet data center license.

The Circular on Clearing up and Regulating the Internet Access Service Market barred telecommunication companies and Internet access service providers from setting up or renting VPNs without government approval. More and more cases have been reported of VPNs being shut down, and individuals who set up or use VPNs are punished since 2017.

China's General Administration of Press and Publications agency selects which publications and audiovisual products may enter China, while the State Administration on Radio, Film, and Culture and the Ministry of Culture review various media. Additionally, China's Ministry of Culture selects which entities may import finished audiovisual products. This effective monopoly on the import and distribution of multimedia products means that China tightly restricts the import of cultural media into the country. These measures have been the focus of a WTO investigation launched by the United States in 2007 (DS363). The panel ruled in favor of the complainant, deeming that China had not adequately substantiated its defense, which concerned the need to protect public morals. In total, the panel found 29 WTO violations throughout various Chinese regulations, catalogs, rules, opinions, and legal instruments. Rather than fully implementing the panel's recommendations, China and the US reached a memorandum of understanding via a negotiated settlement. Many of the associated laws remain in place, and their influence is amplified by provincial and local-level regulations that cite them.

According to Art. 6 of the Interim Provisions, computer information networks for direct international networking must use the international channels provided by the national public telecommunications network of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. No unit or individual may establish or use other channels for international networking on their own. The public security authorities may issue a warning and impose a fine of up to RMB 15,000 (USD 2200) on anyone who violates this provision. In addition, institutions or individuals are not allowed to use the international network to endanger national security, divulge state secrets, infringe upon national, social, and collective interests and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, or engage in illegal and criminal activities. Institutions and individuals engaged in international networking services are required to file procedures in designated public security agencies within 30 days of the connection, and accept the security supervision, inspection, and guidance of the public security authorities; for those who violate the measures, individuals and institutions can be fined in serious cases and they can be given within six months to stop networking, shut down for rectification, etc. The Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Internet Information Content Management set out the procedural and administrative processes for the Cyberspace Administration of China to enforce the laws and regulations relating to Internet content.

According to Art. 7 of the Telecom Regulations, a telecom operator must obtain a proper license for its telecom business. In accordance with Art. 8, telecom business is divided into basic telecom business, and value-added telecom business. The Classification Catalogue of Telecom Business, attached to these Regulations, further divides basic telecom business and VAT business into different sub-categories, each requiring a corresponding license. One of the essential sub-categories of VAT business is called “Information Service”. The information service provided through the Internet is called “Internet Information Service”, which is usually referred to as Internet Content Provision (ICP) service. This is a very broad category and covers a wide range of online services, such as instant messaging, app stores, search engines, online communities, and online anti-virus services, etc. An ICP license is required for the ICP service. All websites with their own domain name that are hosted on the Chinese mainland territory are required to obtain an ICP license. Websites that are hosted outside of the Chinese mainland territory do not need to obtain it.
ICP filing is regulated by local regulations in each province. In general, requirements are similar in every province; for example, the core requirement fixed by Beijing municipality is that the website abides by the content laws in China and "should not contain materials related to terrorism, explosives, drugs, jurisprudence, gambling, and other illegal acts”. In addition, the following requirements and documents shall be prepared and provided:
- The domain name must be registered from a China-based domain name provider.
- The ICP Filing subject must be the domain name owner.
- For personal, a scanned copy or photo of the front and back of the ID card is required.
- For company, a scanned copy or photo of the company’s registration certificate, and scanned copies or photos of the front and back of the ID cards of the persons in charge of ICP Filing and the website.
- Other documents required by the local communications administration, such as a domain name certificate.
Websites are shut down and companies can be blacklisted by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology if they do not comply with the ministry's requirements.

According to Art. 5 of the Provisions on the Administration of Internet News Information Services, Internet news providers are required to obtain a permit to provide Internet news information services to the social public through Internet websites, application software, forums, blogs, microblogs, public account, instant messaging tools, online live streaming and other such methods. In addition, pursuant to Art. 6 of the law, the applicant’s person-in-charge or chief editor must be a Chinese citizen and the applicant shall have a legal person legally established within the territory of the People's Republic of China. Furthermore, the applicant must separately obtain an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license or an ICP filing from telecom industry regulators. According to Art. 16 of the law, without an ICP number, a website can be shut down by the hosting provider with no notice.
Furthermore, all privately operated news services are obligated to have their operations overseen by personnel endorsed by the ruling party. Editorial staff working on these platforms need approval from national or local government internet and information offices, and their employees are required to undergo training and obtain reporting credentials from the central government. The Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Internet Information Content Management set out the procedural and administrative processes for the Cyberspace Administration of China to enforce the laws and regulations relating to Internet content.

There are strict guidelines for what can be published online and how the publisher should conduct business in China came into force in March 2016. According to Art. 10 of the Administrative Regulations for Online Publishing Services, Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, Chinese-foreign cooperative ventures, and foreign-funded entities are not allowed to engage in online publishing services. Moreover, according to Art. 7 of the law, any publisher of online content, including texts, pictures, maps, games, animations, audio, and videos will be required to store their necessary technical equipment, related servers, and storage devices in China. Furthermore, any online publication service unit needs to get prior approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) if they want to cooperate on a project with any foreign company, joint venture, or individual.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in China. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

It is reported that a state-backed campaign being undertaken against pornography and illegal publications forced five online data storage providers to shut down their services. The companies who reported having their services shut down are KuaiPan, UC Net Disk, Vdisk, 115 Technology, and Weiyun, and are all based in China. Foreign cloud storage providers, such as Dropbox and Google Drive have long been blocked in China.

Government-owned ISPs reportedly place filtering devices in the backbone and in provincial-level internal networks, a development that could potentially allow for interprovincial filtering. It is reported that at least 14,000 search terms on search engines are filtered.

Under the provisions of the Cybersecurity Law, and as part of a social media crackdown on websites that disseminate "vulgar content" and which "negatively impact society", China is reported to have shut down over 60 social media accounts that covered celebrity gossip. Additionally, China's media oversight body, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio Film, and Television, ordered three major online companies (Weibo, iFeng, and ACFUN) to halt some of their multimedia streaming services, citing that they lacked adequate permits and that the sites hosted "many politically-related programs that do not conform with state rules".