Compliance Guidelines for Live Streaming Marketing Activities in Shanghai

September 2022

Karl Zhang and Teresa Huang

On July 8, 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation issued the Compliance Guidelines for Live Streaming Marketing Activities in Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”), which have been implemented since the date of promulgation, and include the following main contents:

I. General Provisions

The Guidelines are applicable to live steaming marketing activities carried out in Shanghai.  Live streaming marketing activities refer to commercial activities of promoting the sale of goods or services in the form of live streaming by video, live streaming by audio, live streaming with photos and words or a combination of multiple live streaming forms through Internet websites, applications, and mini programs, etc.  The Guidelines also define live streaming marketing platforms, in-platform operators, live streaming room operators, anchors, and anchor service institution.

II. Compliance Requirements for Relevant Entities

In live streaming marketing activities, a live marketing platform shall formulate and publicize its live streaming marketing management rules in accordance with the law, strengthen the ecological management of live streaming marketing, and fulfill the platform management responsibilities in terms of live streaming contents, anchor accounts and behavior, the protection of consumers carrying out transactions with live streaming rooms, etc. in accordance with the law.

An in-platform operator selling goods or services through live streaming shall comply with the platform rules and cooperation agreements, continuously publicize its business license and other information, carry out marketing and live streaming activities in compliance with laws and regulations, and fulfill an e-commerce operator’s responsibilities in accordance with the law.

A live streaming room operator shall comply with the platform rules and cooperation agreements, shall not require any in-platform operator to sign any unreasonable mandatory exclusive terms, conduct quality control, compliance management and anchor management, and carry out the standardized construction, content audit and violation disposal for live streaming marketing activities in accordance with the law.

In the live streaming marketing activities, an anchor shall regulate his/her own behavior such as dress and language, fulfill the agreement with in-platform operators to carry out live streaming, release information on goods or services in accordance with the law and avoid misleading consumers, and legally promote goods or services to the public.

An anchor service institution shall carry out the recruitment, training and management of live streaming marketing personnel in accordance with laws and regulations and agreements, and perform obligations such as information security management, commodity quality audit, consumer rights protection and tax payment in accordance with the law.

III. Compliance Requirements for Goods or Services 

The Guidelines stipulate that no live streaming shall be used to promote or provide goods or services that are prohibited from trading or prohibited from online trading by law or administrative regulations, that live streaming marketing shall be conducted cautiously, that the goods provided shall meet the product standards indicated as adopted by the products, and that food provided shall comply with laws and regulations and food safety standards to ensure food safety.

Live streaming marketing of cross-border retail of imported goods shall be carried out within the “list of imported retail goods for cross-border e-commerce” and comply with the laws, administrative regulations and relevant state provisions on import and export supervision and management.

IV. Compliance Requirements for Live Streaming Marketing Behavior

Live streaming marketing behavior shall adhere to the correct orientation, and shall not contain any content with bad orientation such as damaging the national dignity and interests, or using the image of any State organ.  The Guidelines stipulate compliance requirements such as prohibiting malicious marketing, ensuring fair competition, banning false promotion, regulating advertising, clearly marking prices, regulating promotional activities, protecting intellectual property rights, protecting minors and the elderly, and safeguarding consumers’ right to know and choose, etc.