China lists mobile app stores that adhere to the new rule, but Apple is absent

China's cyberspace regulator on Wednesday published the names of the initial group of mobile app stores that had finished providing regulators with their business information.

It was a sign that the Chinese government had started enforcing new regulations that increased the scope of its control over mobile apps.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) reports that a total of 26 app stores run by organizations like Tencent, Ant Group, Huawei, Xiaomi, Baidu, and Samsung have filed documents with the authority.

Apple’s App Store has been excluded from the list of app stores. Apple did not immediately respond to the reporters request for comment.

Over the past several years, the Chinese government has been expanding oversight of smartphone and mobile app usage over the past several years. In China, mobile app stores and mobile apps are now required to submit business details to the government.

These new rules are creating anxiety in the industry that publishing apps in the world’s second largest economy will become incredibly challenging and several apps may need to be taken down.

The Chinese government’s push to tighten scrutiny over apps came into focus when in June 2022, the CAC issued a new legislation mandating app stores to submit business details and said it would hold the app stores accountable for the illegal content present in the apps.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued another notice in August of this year requiring mobile apps to finish filing by the end of March.

Reporters stated earlier this month that app stores run by businesses like Tencent and Huawei have begun requiring that apps on their app stores abide by the new regulations.