The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced, as part of a measure titled "Administrative Measures for Communications Short Message Information Services," that sending commercial SMS messages without the recipient's prior consent will now be prohibited.

China is evolving and adopting a legislative framework as effective as that of France.

The consequences of sending unsolicited messages include a warning, a fine, and a public announcement of the violation.

The consequence of this measure is an increase in compliance costs and risk for all SMS operators.

However, China is going even further than France, as the consent requested from the recipient must also specify the frequency and length of the messages to allow for an informed decision.

The measure will take effect on June 30, 2015.

It is essential to respect users when sending bulk SMS messages.