Ministry of Public Security Institute Reacts to US WTO Communication on Cybersecurity Law

The U.S. government filed a communication regarding China’s Cybersecurity Law and related implementing measures with the WTO Council for Trade in Services on September 26, 2017. The communication highlights that the Cybersecurity Law and its related implementing measures, such as the Measures on the Security Assessment of Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Information and Important Data and the draft TC260 standard, Information Security Technology- Guidelines for Data Cross-border Transfer Security Assessment, would “disrupt, deter and in many cases, prohibit cross-border transfer of information” and requested that China refrain from issuing implementing the final measures until concerns are addressed.
 
So far, no public response has been made to the WTO filing from Chinese stakeholders except a short commentary made by the 3rd Research Institute under Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The institute calls for full attention to the WTO filing and believes that this communication, whose main statements are similar to the multi-association joint letters on the Cybersecurity Law and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) regulations, will be far more influential than the joint letters because the U.S. Government has submitted to the WTO.