China’s Ministry of Culture has published announcements on its official website stating that it has issued the first batch of four licenses for operating Internet cafe retail chains in China.

The four companies that gain the netcafe licenses are T-Matrix, Beijing Zhonglu Shikong, Beijing Read China, and CECT-Chinacomm Communications.

The issuance of the licenses represents the official openness of the national Internet cafe chain license in China and it marks the start of the integration of the Chinese Internet cafe market.

Early in 2003, the Ministry of Culture published a notice to enhance the chain management of venues providing the Internet services. The notice defined the qualifications for Internet cafe chains who want to operate the business in China.

In September 2009, the Ministry of Culture published a method for the certification and management of Internet cafe chain enterprises, making a clear and detailed definition for Internet cafe chain enterprises for the first time. According to the method, an Internet cafe chain enterprise should have registered capital of no less than CNY50 million; wholly-own or have a controlling stake in no less than 30 Internet cafes; and have Internet cafes in three or more provinces.