China’s New Trade Secret Rules Do Not Replace China NNN Agreements
China recently adopted major new trade secret rules, and many foreign companies will draw exactly the wrong lesson from them. They will see stronger trade secret protection and assume they can rely less on China contracts.
That is a mistake.
China’s new Regulation on the Protection of Trade Secrets takes effect June 1, 2026. It should make some trade secret claims easier to bring and some administrative enforcement more effective. For companies with valuable know-how, formulas, processes, customer information, technical data, or operational methods, that is good news.
But it does not replace a China NNN Agreement. Trade secret law protects trade secrets. A China NNN Agreement protects against a broader set of risks: unauthorized use, disclosure within the Chinese side’s network, and circumvention. Those are often the risks that matter most when foreign companies deal with Chinese manufacturers, suppliers, product
