[bnomis]

Beian http://www.miibeian.gov.cn/ only applies to servers inside of China. China law can't extend outside its borders. It is free to apply for a beian.

CNNIC passed a rule at the end of last year that essentially means only companies registered in China can hold .cn domains http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2009/12/12/5750.htm

You can host whatever TLD site you want in China (.com etc.) You just need to register it and get an ICP (beian). It's a form of publishing and all publishing is controlled. So why would you host in side of China? Speed. Traversing the GFW slows everything down.

[liuliu]

Based on the Internet Information Services Management Approach (http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2000/09/25/0652.htm), anyone who provide Internet information services in mainland China needs to beian (be careful about the word they use here. As long as you provide service to mainland China user, you have to). For non-commercial website, it is free. For commercial website, it is free for you to apply, but in practice, you have to hire an agency to get the licence.

For those who are not Chinese native speakers, I use Google translate to give you the keywords:

"Second, in the PRC engaged in Internet information service activities, must comply with these measures.

"The term Internet information services, refer to Internet users through the Internet to provide information services activities."