Applies to: the Chinese-language site, English-language site, iOS / Android apps and authorised third-party distribution channels operated by TREE NEWS ("we", "us" or "the Platform").
Article 1 – Definitions and general provisions
1.1 This Agreement is entered into between the user and the Platform regarding the use of the Platform's products and services, including the website, iOS / Android apps, push notifications and authorised third-party distribution channels (the "Service"). "User" means registered users and natural persons browsing public content as visitors.
1.2 This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Copyright & Reprints notice and News Flash Disclaimer, forms the complete set of service rules (the "Platform Rules"). By using the Service, the user is deemed to have read, understood and agreed to be bound by this Agreement and the Platform Rules.
1.3 The Platform provides information-centred services such as news aggregation, bilingual content and global event information, built on an open-source CMS with an AI-assisted production workflow (the actual features provided prevail). The Platform does not provide securities account opening, investment advisory, discretionary asset management, virtual currency trade matching or token issuance services.
Article 2 – Services and account registration
2.1 The Service includes but is not limited to: browsing and searching news, the news flash feed, reading articles and columns, event information, bookmarks, comments, likes, reporting, following columns / tags / authors, push notifications, personalised recommendation, submissions and other features the Platform may launch from time to time.
2.2 Visitors may browse public content without registering. Bookmarks, comments, likes, following, submissions, push settings and similar features are available to registered users only.
2.3 Users may register with a mobile number, email address or third-party account (such as Sign in with Apple, subject to regional availability). Users must ensure that registration information is true, accurate and complete, and must cooperate with identity verification requirements where applicable. Users must update registration information promptly when it changes.
2.4 If registration information is false, another person's identity is used, or identity verification requirements are breached, the Platform may refuse registration or restrict or terminate the Service, and the user bears the consequences.
2.5 Each person may register and use only one account unless the law or the Platform provides otherwise. Users must not lend, transfer, rent or sell their accounts.
Article 3 – Account security, deletion and data export
3.1 Users must keep their account, password and verification details secure and are responsible for all activity carried out under their account. Users must notify the Platform immediately if their account is compromised or a security vulnerability is found.
3.2 Users may request deletion of their account at any time. After deletion, the Platform deletes or anonymises the related personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy, except where retention is required by law. Deletion is available on the website under My Account – Security – Delete account, and in the app under Settings – Account & Security – Delete account.
3.3 Users may request an export of their personal data before deletion. The scope and method of export are as set out in the Privacy Policy and as supported by the Platform's features.
3.4 Deletion of an account does not affect rights and obligations that arose before deletion, including liability for breaches of this Agreement.
Article 4 – User conduct and content moderation
4.1 Users undertake to comply with applicable law and public order and morals when using the Service and must not:
- publish or distribute content prohibited by law, including content that endangers national security, disrupts financial order, promotes terrorism, violence, obscenity, gambling or drugs, or infringes the legitimate rights of others;
- publish content involving virtual currency trading, token issuance financing, promises of returns or other suspected illegal financial activity, or content that refers users to such activity (see the Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Speculation in Virtual Currency Trading, Yin Fa [2021] No. 237);
- publish false, fraudulent or misleading information, or impersonate others or fabricate identities and experience;
- publish advertising, marketing or spam without permission, or engage in vote manipulation, comment manipulation or other disruptive behaviour;
- maliciously attack, abuse or harass other users, or disclose others' privacy or personal information;
- infringe others' copyright, trademarks, patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property;
- use technical means to unlawfully access, interfere with or damage the Platform's systems or data, including crawling, reverse engineering and cracking;
- otherwise breach the law or the Platform Rules.
4.2 The Platform may moderate user content before or after publication (as configured per section) and may apply rate limiting, keyword filtering, anti-spam and other technical measures. The Platform may delete, block, take down or restrict content that breaches this Agreement, or suspend or terminate the account concerned, without prior notice.
4.3 Users who find content that breaks the rules may report it through the Corrections & Complaints page or by email to tree@treenews.cn. The Platform will handle reports in accordance with law and respond within a reasonable time.
Article 5 – User-generated content and licence
5.1 Copyright in text, images, audio, video and other material created by users through comments, likes, bookmarks, submissions and similar features ("User Content") belongs to the user or the relevant rights holder. Users warrant that they hold the necessary rights and that User Content does not infringe any third-party rights.
5.2 Users grant the Platform a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to display, distribute, translate, edit (without changing the meaning), compile and promote User Content on the Platform and its authorised channels. Users acknowledge that deleting User Content does not affect uses made before deletion.
5.3 The Platform does not mark third-party material as original merely after machine rewriting; the "Original" label must be backed by genuine reporting and editing. Users who mark a submission as original warrant that it is their own work.
5.4 User Content containing AI-generated or synthetic elements must be labelled in accordance with the Measures for Labelling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content and the mandatory national standard GB 45438-2025. Users must not remove, alter or conceal AI labels added by the Platform or the source.
Article 6 – Submissions
6.1 Submissions are open by section. Contributors must complete identity verification where applicable and confirm their agreement to this Agreement and the Copyright & Reprints notice.
6.2 Submissions are published only after review by the Platform. The Platform decides whether to accept, publish, edit, reject or withdraw a submission and retains final discretion.
6.3 Accepted submissions carry an author credit, copyright notice and republication terms in accordance with Platform rules. Fees or incentives, if any, are governed by rules published separately by the Platform.
6.4 Contributors are liable for submissions that are infringing, false or in breach of the rules. The Platform may withdraw such submissions and recover incentives already paid. Where a contributor's fault causes loss to the Platform, the Platform may claim full compensation.
Article 7 – Push notifications and personalised recommendation
7.1 Push notifications: users may set their push preferences (by news flash importance, section, column, quiet hours, etc.). The Platform sends notifications sparingly by default. Users may enable, disable or adjust notifications at any time in the app under Settings – Notifications; disabling notifications does not affect other services.
7.2 Personalised recommendation: where the Platform provides algorithm-based personalised content recommendation, users may turn off "Personalised recommendation" at any time under Settings – Privacy & Recommendation, after which only generically ranked content is shown (see the Provisions on the Administration of Algorithmic Recommendation in Internet Information Services).
7.3 Personalised recommendation is used only to rank content. It is not used to target users with commercial advertising or to profile users on the basis of sensitive personal information.
Article 8 – Points, badges and community incentives
8.1 The Platform may offer points, badges and other community incentives. Points and badges merely display a user's activity and contribution to the community; they have no monetary value, cannot be exchanged for cash, tokens, virtual currency or any other financial benefit, and do not constitute any promise of returns.
8.2 Points rules are published separately by the Platform and may change. The Platform may deduct, freeze or reset points obtained in breach of the rules for anti-fraud purposes without compensation.
8.3 Users must not use points or badges for trading, transfer or investment promotion.
Article 9 – Platform content and intellectual property
9.1 Intellectual property in Platform content created by the Platform or lawfully licensed to it (including but not limited to news flashes, articles, image cards, layout design, interface, trademarks, logos and program code) belongs to the Platform or the relevant rights holder and is protected by copyright, trademark and other laws.
9.2 Users may browse, share and quote Platform content for personal, non-commercial purposes only, within the scope permitted by this Agreement and the Platform Rules. Republication, copying, compilation or distribution without the Platform's written permission, or beyond the scope permitted by the Copyright & Reprints notice, requires prior authorisation.
9.3 Users must not remove or alter source attributions, credits, AI labels, watermarks, links or rights management information on Platform content by any means.
Article 10 – Third-party services and external links
10.1 The Service may contain links to third-party websites, apps or events (such as event registration links or links to source articles). Third-party services are operated independently by third parties, who are responsible for their content, privacy rules and liabilities; they are unrelated to the Platform.
10.2 Before using a third-party service, users should read and agree to that third party's terms and privacy policy and assess the risks themselves. The Platform accepts no liability for disputes or losses arising from third-party services, except where the law provides otherwise.
Article 11 – Disclaimer and limitation of liability
11.1 Platform content (including AI-assisted content) is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal, tax or financial advice. Digital asset prices are highly volatile; users must exercise independent judgement and bear their own risk. See the Disclaimer and News Flash Disclaimer.
11.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Platform is not liable for losses caused by force majeure, third parties, the user's own actions or any cause not attributable to the Platform's fault, nor for indirect or incidental loss, loss of profit or loss of data.
11.3 The Platform makes reasonable efforts to keep the Service stable and data secure but does not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.
11.4 Except where the law provides otherwise, the Platform is not liable for loss caused by: the user's failure to keep account credentials secure; the user's breach of this Agreement; decisions made by the user in reliance on Platform content; or transactions or disputes between the user and third parties.
11.5 Nothing in this Article excludes or limits any mandatory liability that cannot be excluded by agreement under applicable law, including liability for damage caused by the Platform's wilful misconduct or gross negligence.
Article 12 – Personal information protection
12.1 The Platform's processing of users' personal information is governed by the Privacy Policy, which forms part of this Agreement. Users should read and agree to the Privacy Policy before using the Service.
12.2 Where applicable law requires, the Platform will obtain the user's separate consent or sign separate documents before processing personal information (for example, for cross-border transfers or sharing with third parties).
12.3 Users may exercise their rights of access, correction, deletion, account deletion, withdrawal of consent, restriction of processing and data portability under applicable law, including the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO). The means of exercising these rights are set out in the Privacy Policy.
Article 13 – Protection of minors
13.1 The Platform is intended primarily for users with full capacity for civil conduct. Children under 14 may not register for or use the Service. Minors aged 14 to 17 may use the Service only with the consent and accompaniment of a guardian and may not activate features involving payment or identity verification, where applicable. For users in the European Union, the age threshold for consent is that set by the law of the member state concerned.
13.2 A guardian who finds that a minor is using the Service may email tree@treenews.cn to request deletion of the related personal information and termination of the Service.
13.3 The Platform does not provide minors with any content recommendation or interactive feature relating to virtual currency or investment, and does not apply personalised recommendation to minors.
Article 14 – Changes, suspension and termination of service
14.1 The Platform may adjust, change, suspend or terminate all or part of the Service (including modifying features, adjusting sections or retiring features) in response to business development, law or regulatory requirements, and will notify users within a reasonable time by announcement, in-app message or push notification.
14.2 Where a user breaches this Agreement, the Platform may, depending on the seriousness, issue a warning, restrict features, suspend use or ban the account. In serious cases the Platform may terminate the Service and report to the competent authorities as required by law.
14.3 After termination of the Service or deletion of an account, provisions of this Agreement that by their nature should survive continue in effect, including but not limited to the licence in Article 5, intellectual property in Article 9, disclaimer and limitation of liability in Article 11, the basis for personal information processing in Article 12, and governing law and disputes in Article 16.
Article 15 – Notices
15.1 Notices from the Platform to users may be delivered by in-app message, app push notification, SMS, email or announcement in a prominent place on the Platform, and are deemed delivered when sent.
15.2 Notices from users to the Platform must be sent through the contact channels published by the Platform and are deemed delivered on the date the Platform actually receives them.
Article 16 – Governing law and disputes
16.1 The formation, validity, interpretation and dispute resolution of this Agreement are governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the Platform's operator is located, namely the law of the People's Republic of China. For users in the European Union, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong and other jurisdictions outside mainland China, mandatory provisions of the law of their own jurisdiction prevail, including consumer protection provisions of the GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, PDPA and PDPO that cannot be excluded by agreement.
16.2 Disputes arising from this Agreement shall first be resolved through friendly negotiation. Failing that, they shall be submitted to the competent people's court in the jurisdiction in which the Platform's operator is located. Users outside mainland China may also assert their rights through the channels provided by the law of their own jurisdiction.
16.3 This Agreement is published in Chinese and English. In the event of any inconsistency between the two versions, the Chinese version prevails.
Article 17 – Effect, amendment and interpretation
17.1 This Agreement takes effect on publication. Continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of the amended Agreement.
17.2 The Platform may amend this Agreement in response to changes in law, regulatory requirements or business needs. The amended Agreement will be published in a prominent place on the Platform with an updated version number and effective date. Changes affecting users' important rights and obligations will be brought to users' attention in a prominent way (such as a pop-up or in-app message).
17.3 Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.