On February 1, 2026, China’s new Supervision and Management Measures for Live Streaming E-commerce (Order No. 117), co-issued by SAMR and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), entered into force. For the first time in China’s regulatory history, live streaming e-commerce is explicitly brought under the Advertising Law. Any host promoting a product during a live session must now label that content as 广告 (advertisement). No exceptions, no grace period.
The rule covers all major platforms: Douyin, Taobao Live, JD Live, Kuaishou. It applies to hosts selling on behalf of a brand, to brand-owned accounts, and to MCN-managed talent. The SAMR and CAC are the two regulators behind it, which means enforcement can come from either side.
What the official text does not say
Before Order No. 117, live streaming sat in a grey zone. The Advertising Law existed, but applying it to a host reviewing products in real time was legally ambiguous. Platforms argued their hosts were “sharing experiences,” not running ads. Brands used that ambiguity aggressively: no disclosure, no ad labels, maximum reach.
That ends now. Three changes are mechanical and immediate:
- Every commercial live session must display the 广告 label visibly, in a format the viewer can read without effort.
- MCN agencies must make their identity visible on each host’s profile. Anonymous MCNs operating under shell accounts are no longer legal.
- Liability is shared between the brand and the host. If a false claim goes out during a live session, both parties can be held responsible under the Advertising Law, not just the platform.
In June 2026, a draft supplementary regulation went into consultation. It targets health and pharmaceutical products specifically, proposing stricter qualification requirements for hosts selling supplements, medical devices, and food with health claims. NutraIngredients reported on this draft in detail. The final version is expected before Q1 2027.
One area that remains genuinely unclear: how foreign-operated platforms handle this. TikTok Shop, which operates partly outside China’s jurisdiction, has not published a compliance roadmap. Brands running cross-border live sessions should assume the rules apply until told otherwise.
What this means for your brand
If your brand runs live sessions on Douyin, Taobao Live, or JD Live, this law concerns you directly. Not your agency. Not your MCN. You, as the advertiser, share the legal burden for what goes on screen.
The brands most exposed are those who outsourced live streaming entirely to an MCN and never reviewed the content contracts. A host who makes unsupported claims about your product is now your problem too.
One client in the food supplement space, running 15 to 20 live sessions per month across two platforms, discovered their MCN had never disclosed the 广告 label in any session. When we audited the archive, every session technically violated the incoming rules. They had two months to fix it before enforcement started. That is the kind of exposure most brands in this space are carrying right now.
The window to fix it quietly is closing. The SAMR began enforcement in February 2026. The first fines under this regulation are not yet public, but the agency has been consistent: warnings in Q1, fines in Q2 and Q3 of the same year.
How to get compliant
Four steps, in order of urgency.
1. Verify your MCN is registered. Order No. 117 requires MCNs to register with the platform and disclose their identity publicly. Ask your MCN for their registration number. If they cannot provide one, they are not compliant, and you are using a non-compliant partner.
2. Add the 广告 label to every live brief. This is a briefing change, not a technical one. Every document sent to a host or MCN before a session must specify that the 广告 label is mandatory and must appear at the start of any product promotion segment.
3. Update your KOL and MCN contracts. Add a shared liability clause. If a host makes a false claim during a session, the contract should specify who bears responsibility and what the remediation process looks like. Most standard KOL contracts in China do not include this clause yet.
4. Audit your existing live session archive. Platforms keep session recordings. Before the SAMR does, check whether your past sessions would have been compliant. If they would not, that audit gives you documentation that you identified the issue proactively.
For health and pharmaceutical products, start preparing for the supplementary regulation now. The draft requires hosts to hold specific qualifications before promoting these categories. If your brand sells supplements or medical devices, your current host roster may not qualify once the final text is published.
China’s advertising regulations have been tightening since 2019. Live streaming was the last major channel to operate without explicit rules. That phase is over. Brands that built their China strategy around the informal nature of live commerce need to update their compliance framework. If you are also building on Douyin, the Douyin e-commerce guide covers the commercial and compliance layer in detail.
For ongoing regulatory updates, China Briefing is the most reliable English-language source on Chinese law changes affecting foreign companies.
One question worth debating
Some brands will use this regulation as a reason to pull back from live commerce: more legal risk, more compliance overhead, not worth it. Others argue that a regulated channel is actually safer for serious brands, because it pushes out the bad actors who built audiences on unverifiable claims. Where do you land? Leave a comment or reach out directly.
