China Passes Cybersecurity Law

On 7 November 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPC) passed the controversial Cybersecurity Law (the "CSL"). The CSL has gone through three readings since the release of the first draft on 6 July 2015 and will take effect in June 2017. As China's first comprehensive privacy and security regulation in the cyberspace, the CSL enhances data protection in many aspects while bringing in compliance challenges for the international community at the same time.

Applicability

The CSL adopts a tiered approach and imposes different obligations and duties to Critical Information Infrastructures (CIIs) and network operators. "Network operators" are defined to include operators of basic telecommunication networks, internet information service providers, and key information systems. The definition of "CII" has adopted an earlier version that makes specific reference to a few key sectors such as finance and transportation while retaining the