China draft rules propose that Chinese employee data cannot be stored overseas

China has drafted a set of guidelines on handling personal data, which, if enacted, could have a significant impact on how employee data is handled. Most strikingly, international companies with Chinese operations would not be allowed to store data about those employees outside China.

China has not yet established a comprehensive and systematic personal information protection legislation. The PRC Constitution and the General Principles of the Civil Law of the PRC (1986) both refer vaguely to certain personal rights, but privacy is not expressly provided in them. The Tort Liability Law (2009) does refer to privacy, but (with the exception of medical information) it doesn't specifically define the types of information that must be kept private. Instead, it merely acknowledges the existence of such a right.