China Relaxes Rules on Cross-Border Data Flow

On 22 March 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of China ("CAC") published the long-awaited Regulations on Promoting and Regulating the Cross-border Data Flow (《促进和规范数据跨境流动规定》) ("Regulations"), which came into immediate effect.

Compared to the draft Regulations issued for comments by CAC on 28 September 2023, the published Regulations marks a radical shift in China’s cross-border data transfer regulatory approach, towards one which seeks to ensure a balance between national security and protection of individual rights on one hand, and commercial practicability on the other hand.

This Update will examine some of the key features of the Regulations.