# China Game License (Banhao) Tracker (`m8forever/china-game-license-tracker`) Actor

NPPA game approval notices as structured English rows; new-approval alerts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/m8forever/china-game-license-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Hanxiao Yang](https://apify.com/m8forever) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, AI, Other
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.05 / 1,000 license approval rows

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## China Game License Tracker (NPPA "banhao" approvals, in English)

**For AI agents and analysts:** returns every game approval published by China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA, 国家新闻出版署) as structured rows with pinyin game names, English platform labels and rule-based English glosses of company names. Schedule it monthly in `newOnly` mode to get only newly approved games.

### Schedule (subscription-style)

Use `mode: "newOnly"` with a **stable** `stateStoreName` on a monthly (or weekly) Apify schedule.

- First run: baselines seen approvals, emits nothing (no `new-approval-event` charges).
- Later runs: only newly published 版号 rows as `type=new_approval`.

```json
{
  "mode": "newOnly",
  "categories": ["domestic", "imported_online", "imported_console"],
  "indexPages": 2,
  "maxNotices": 30,
  "stateStoreName": "cn-game-license-state"
}
```

### Use cases

- "Which games did Tencent's operators get approved in 2026?" → `{"publisher":"腾讯","indexPages":2,"maxNotices":30}`
- "New mobile game approvals this month" → `{"mode":"newOnly","platform":"Mobile"}` (schedule monthly; first run saves baseline)
- "All imported console approvals" → `{"categories":["imported_console"],"maxNotices":20}`

### Output fields

`category` (domestic / imported_online / imported_console), `approval_date` (YYYY-MM-DD), `name_zh`, `name_pinyin`, `name_en` (only when the official name is already Latin script), `platform_zh`, `platforms_en` (Mobile / PC client / Web / Console), `publisher_zh`, `publisher_en_gloss`, `operator_zh`, `operator_en_gloss`, `approval_no` (国新出审〔YYYY〕N号), `isbn`, `notice_title`, `source_url`.

`*_gloss` and `name_pinyin` are machine transliterations, **not official English names**.

### Pricing (pay per event)

- `approval-row`: $0.002 per row returned in query mode
- `new-approval-event`: $0.02 per newly detected approval
  Full historical dataset (CSV/XLSX) available separately.

### Source

Public notices of the National Press and Publication Administration, https://www.nppa.gov.cn/bsfw/jggs/yxspjg/ . Every row links to its original notice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by NPPA. Polite crawling (1 req/s). See COMPLIANCE.md.

### Use cases & scheduling

- **Monthly banhao alerts** — `mode: newOnly` on a monthly schedule returns only newly approved games.
- **Publisher lookups** — e.g. all approvals involving Tencent (`腾讯`) or NetEase (`网易`).
- **Imported game approvals** — `categories: ["imported_online", "imported_console"]`.
- **Market research / equity research** on China's gaming pipeline, in English with pinyin names.
- **AI agents** — structured rows instead of Chinese HTML notices.

Tip: create an [Apify Schedule](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) for the Actor or one of the tasks below to turn it into a recurring monitor, and add a webhook/integration to get results in Slack, email or Google Sheets.

### Ready-made example tasks

One-click, pre-filled inputs you can run or copy:

- [domestic-banhao-recent-approvals](https://apify.com/m8forever/china-game-license-tracker/tasks/domestic-banhao-recent-approvals)
- [tencent-game-approvals-banhao](https://apify.com/m8forever/china-game-license-tracker/tasks/tencent-game-approvals-banhao)
- [imported-game-approvals-china](https://apify.com/m8forever/china-game-license-tracker/tasks/imported-game-approvals-china)

### FAQ

**What is a banhao?**\
The NPPA publication license (版号) a game needs before monetized release in mainland China.

**Are the English names official?**\
No. `name_pinyin` and `*_en_gloss` are machine transliterations; `name_en` is filled only when the official name is in Latin script.

**How often does NPPA publish?**\
Roughly monthly, so a monthly or weekly schedule is enough.

**Is it affiliated with NPPA?**\
No. Public notices only, each row links to its source.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

query = return matching approvals; newOnly = only approvals not seen in previous runs (schedule monthly)

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Lists

## `indexPages` (type: `integer`):

Index pages per list (15 notices/page)

## `maxNotices` (type: `integer`):

Max notices to open

## `publisher` (type: `string`):

Publisher/operator contains (Chinese or English gloss)

## `name` (type: `string`):

Game name contains (Chinese or pinyin)

## `platform` (type: `string`):

Platform (Mobile, PC client, Web, Console)

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Approval date from (YYYY-MM-DD)

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Approval date to (YYYY-MM-DD)

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

State store

## `delaySeconds` (type: `number`):

Delay between requests (s)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "query",
  "categories": [
    "domestic",
    "imported_online",
    "imported_console"
  ],
  "indexPages": 1,
  "maxNotices": 10,
  "stateStoreName": "cn-game-license-state",
  "delaySeconds": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("m8forever/china-game-license-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("m8forever/china-game-license-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call m8forever/china-game-license-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,m8forever/china-game-license-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/dBNXR01wNyZcticLh/builds/AM1W3fPN8I1rn8OjS/openapi.json