To regulate the management of government mobile internet applications and balance the dual goals of reducing burdens on grassroots levels while empowering them, as well as to prevent "formalism on the fingertips" and "vanity projects" in public services, the General Office of the State Council recently issued a notice on the "Standardized Management Measures for Government Mobile Internet Applications." The measures define government mobile internet applications (hereinafter referred to as government apps) as application software developed by administrative agencies, mass organizations, and public institutions at all levels, or built on various internet platforms, operating on mobile smart terminals to support internal staff with office work, management, and learning. This includes mobile clients (APP), mini-programs, and quick apps, but excludes official public accounts and work groups. In principle, units below the county level (excluding county-level) are not permitted to develop government apps.

The measures consist of twenty-six articles, with key provisions including: The hosting (or using) units must standardize the construction and management of government apps and are prohibited from engaging in the following practices: (1) arbitrarily or repeatedly demanding that grassroots units fill out forms, report data, or submit materials; (2) except for special scenarios such as security and emergencies, incorporating mandatory features in government apps such as clock-in/check-in systems, point rankings, and statistics on online duration; (3) forcibly promoting the download and use of government apps, assessing and reporting user installation and usage rates, or mandating regular logins; (4) distorting government apps into primary tools for daily work assessments and online inspections, using metrics like numbers of likes, online votes, shares, or learning duration as evaluation criteria, and unnecessarily forcing subordinate or grassroots units to upload work photos, videos, and location tracks via government apps; (5) using government apps for profit-making activities.

All regions and departments are required to conduct regular self-inspections and evaluations, proactively identify issues such as forced usage, excessive documentation, misuse of rankings, and redundant reporting, and implement corrective measures. Government apps with low usage frequency and poor practicality must be shut down and deregistered within a specified timeframe, while apps with similar or overlapping functions should be integrated or migrated. Hosting (or using) units are encouraged to actively utilize government apps to enhance the digital and intelligent capabilities of grassroots governance.

All regions and departments should strengthen intensive development and data sharing, clean up and integrate government apps targeted at the grassroots level, and optimize the functionality of these applications. These measures take effect immediately upon issuance. Government apps already operational prior to the implementation of these measures must complete a filing process within six months from the effective date. (For government apps hosted or used by various departments, the respective department must apply for filing with the Cyberspace Administration of China through the standardized management system for government mobile internet applications.)