Legal Update – China Desk - November 2016

 On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China passed the Cybersecurity Law (the "Law"), which will become effective as of June 1, 2017. As the basic law on cybersecurity regulation, the Law touches on the national policy of cyber industry, obligations of network operators, protection of data and personal information, and penalties for noncompliance. The first and second drafts of the Law were released respectively on June 2015 and June 2016, and the third on October 31, 2016, during which the Law had elicited extensive discussion among businesses. Below are certain key elements of the Law. An unofficial English translation of the Law can be found here.