CHINA relaxed rules governing cross-border data flows by narrowing the kinds of data that require security evaluation, addressing a key concern of foreign businesses who have said the previous regulation disrupted their operations.

Information which doesn’t include personal information or “important data” will be exempt from security evaluations when being transfered out of the country, according to the latest announcement by China’s top Internet regulator.

The rules have been changed to facilitate data flows and cut business costs, the Cyberspace Administration of China said. The changes will be effective immediately, it added.

Still, the new rules retain some previous restrictions, stipulating that “critical infrastructure operators” and those handling personal data of more than one million people need to pass security assessments to transfer data.

Beijing’s existing rules on data transfer, introduced in 2021, are widely seen to be more onerous than even the European Union’s strict data protection regime. International firms, from hoteliers to banks, were faced with slow approvals to transmit data beyond China’s mainland through authorised channels.

Foreign business lobby groups have been urging Beijing to relax the rules, and European Union and Chinese leaders discussed them at a summit in December. BLOOMBERG

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