Apple's App Store Faces China's Regulatory Hurdles, Talks Underway to Comply With New Regulations

Apple Inc AAPL staff have engaged in discussions with Chinese officials to address concerns related to new regulations that will impose restrictions on the availability of foreign apps in the company's app store in China.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Chinese officials emphasized Apple's need to diligently enforce the regulations, including prohibiting unregistered foreign apps.

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China's action to limit these apps would seal a gap in the Great Firewall, preventing Chinese iPhone users from accessing popular Western social media applications such as Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.

Over the past few years, Beijing has increasingly tightened its smartphone and mobile app usage oversight. This has included the requirement for mobile app stores and apps to submit comprehensive business information to the Chinese government.

Recently, China's cyberspace regulator unveiled the names of the first set of mobile app stores that have successfully filed their business details, indicating the commencement of enforcement of the new regulations. Notably, Apple's App Store was conspicuously absent from the list of compliant app stores.

The tech giant has not disclosed the specifics of how Apple's app store in China will adhere to Beijing's new rules, Wall Street Journal noted. However, the compliance could entail the removal of tens of thousands of apps from Apple's app store in China.

The WSJ also noted that Apple employees have expressed concerns about implementing these regulations and how they will impact the user experience in China.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.