All iOS apps are more likely to be locked out of China

Due to rising tension between China and the United States, Apple's App Store, which used to operate in China using the 'loophole' of the law, may be forced to close, a new report by the overseas news media The Information Pointed out.

Apple's China Loopholes Are Starting to Close — The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apples-china-loopholes-are-starting-to-close

App Store shutdown fears in China loom amid global regulatory pressure on Apple-9to5Mac
https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/18/app-store-shutdown-china-regulators/

On August 1, 2020, Apple removed more than 30,000 apps from the China App Store. On July 8, Apple sent a notice to the application developer that 'the game will be deleted if it does not meet the regulatory requirements of China', and the deletion is a form of implementing the notice.

In China, developers need to get a license before publishing paid games or paid apps to the app store. However, in the App Store, it has been possible to publish an application 'waiting for approval after applying for a license'. Using this 'loophole' it was possible for developers to publish apps that have not been approved by the authorities, but Apple has closed this loophole by changing the policy.

More than 90% of the deleted about 30,000 apps were games. With the mass deletion, there are 179,000 game apps in the App Store, of which 160,000 are free apps.

The move is believed to be the result of tensions between China and the United States, including TikTok exclusion . In the United States, a bill that bans the use of TikTok has been passed, but according to Bloomberg , the possibility of retaliation against American companies in China is increasing. Apple, worried about retaliation, seems to have taken the lead and closed the loophole that had been left for many years.

A bill banning the use of TikTok by government officials is passed by Congress, further accelerating the elimination of TikTok in the US-GIGAZINE

However, it has been pointed out that the Chinese App Store itself relies on loopholes. A foreign app store operating in China must be a joint venture with a partner company in China, but Apple has no partner company and runs the App Store itself. All apps from third-party developers must also be censored in advance to comply with local laws, which Apple does not follow. It should be noted that other Chinese app stores that handle Android apps etc. follow this rule.

Apple was considering setting up a Chinese subsidiary for the App Store in 2013, but it didn't succeed because it was determined to 'lost control over the App Store.' After that, I registered as a corporation in 2018, but it seems that the Chinese authorities have not approved the necessary applications.

According to sources, Chinese officials are asking Apple to make concessions to better interfere with the App Store, but Apple's executives have refused to do so. Unless the issue is resolved, the report shows that Chinese authorities could be at risk of closing the App Store in China.