China "Clarifies" Commercial Secrecy

The regulator of China's state owned enterprises (SOEs) recently released guidance on what constitutes a "commercial secret". With judgments being handed down last month in the Stern Hu/Rio Tinto case, this guidance is of great interest to foreign investors in China, as it may help identify the difference between state secrets and commercial secrets when dealing with Chinese enterprises.

There remain, however, a number of unanswered questions, and from the perspective of drafting, the circular has not fully clarified the definition of commercial secret. What it has done, however, is to remind practitioners that not all "secret" information held by SOEs is a state secret, and that some is merely a commercial secret.