Regulatory

China

The State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) is the administrative body governing television. All advertisements must be approved and passed by the Industry and Commerce Administration.

In September 2009 SARFT officially released regulations for broadcast television advertising to take effect 1 January 2010, as well as a notice tightening regulation of paid programming and home shopping channels. The regulation sets maximum advertising allotments per hour during both on- and off-peak times, prescribes minimum numbers of public service announcements during peak periods and the maximum of ad breaks during TV series scheduling. The regulation also forbids ads for certain products, including tobacco products, prescription medication, match-making services and fortune-telling, among others.

SARFT also has TV shopping advertising regulations, banning such ads between peak times on all satellite TV stations, forbidding TV shopping ads deemed "unsuitable" for minors on educational or child-oriented channels, and prohibiting outright TV shopping ads on news or international channels.

Paid programming will be subject to broadcast TV advertising regulations on broadcast length and times, and will not be allowed on news or international channels. Paid programming not suited for minors will be prohibited on educational and children's channels. The new regulations prohibit advertising and programming for pharmaceuticals and sex-related products as well as breast enlargement, weight loss and height increasing products. Advertisements will also be prohibited from including exaggerated or misleading claims regarding advance orders, limited supplies or clearance sales.

All measurements must be in the metric system. Joint venture products must be identified.

All voice-overs must be in Mandarin; however, local dialects are accepted on some local / terrestrial media. Cantonese is accepted in Guangzhou and Guangdong. English is also allowed with Mandarin. The use of national symbols is banned in advertising. (Source: ON Screen Asia, CASBAA).

For reference only