As the visual carrier of urban commerce, outdoor advertising signs are not only windows for merchant brands but also an important part of the city's appearance. Many industry insiders call it the city's "second skyline." For a long time, many cities in China have adopted a unified renovation model to manage storefront signage. Although the city looks tidy, there are issues such as uniform stores, insufficient brand recognition among merchants, and a lack of vibrancy in commercial streets. By the end of 2025, many cities nationwide will collectively revise technical standards for outdoor advertising and signage installation, abandoning one-size-fits-all control methods. While maintaining safety standards, they will unleash more design freedom and further enhance the refined level of urban governance.

The core changes in this new regulation focus on three main areas: safety standards, approval processes, and installation freedom. In terms of safety, all regions have uniformly reinforced hard indicators for wind pressure resistance, fire resistance, and electrical safety. Obviously, roof signs and illuminated text on walls must provide basic structural descriptions, while older signs require regular safety inspections to eliminate risks such as rust, peeling, electric leakage, and fire. In terms of rules, many regions have relaxed the duration of temporary commercial advertisements, extending the usual 5-day advertising period to 15 days to meet the practical needs of holiday promotions, new store openings, and other commercial activities; At the same time, the proportion of signboard area on walls will be adjusted, and all stores will no longer require uniform signage sizes. A flexible "one store, one policy" management model will be implemented, allowing merchants to combine building facade features within the specified scope and reflect their brand's own design style.

The reform of approval service processes is particularly notable. Cities such as Qingdao, Yumen, and Xiong'an have successively launched mini projects for online pre-approval of signboards, implementing notification and commitment approval models. Merchants can submit renderings and material descriptions online to complete preliminary applications, eliminating the need to repeatedly visit offline portals and significantly shortening processing cycles. In the past, merchants often faced the dilemma of "only notifying that the signage does not meet standards and needs to be removed and reinstalled after completion." Now, through online pre-approval, businesses can proactively avoid risks related to non-compliant size, brightness, or installation location, thereby reducing financial losses for merchants.

However, the industry also faces practical challenges. Regulations vary by city, with varying requirements for LED nighttime brightness, cantilever distance, and roof watermarks. Companies carrying out signage projects across regions need to adapt to multiple local standards simultaneously, increasing design and reporting costs. Some small and medium-sized merchants are unfamiliar with the new regulations and still prefer to hire small workshops for direct processing and installation, neglecting the preliminary reporting process and resulting in ongoing risks of subsequent corrections.

Industry insiders say the new regulations are not only aimed at relaxing controls but also shift from "mandatory unified appearance" to "ensuring safety and encouraging diverse styles." For marking engineering companies, focusing solely on product processing and manufacturing is not enough; They must thoroughly understand local policies, provide compliance design advice to clients in advance, and incorporate pre-approval and policy interpretation into the service process. In the future, the signage of urban commercial districts will maintain safety and compliance while retaining more brand individuality, achieving a balance between urban appearance management, urban vitality, and merchant business needs.