Covington & Burling have published a client advisory that will be of interest to many readers. It begins:
On October 21, 2020, the National People’s Congress (“NPC”), China’s top legislative body,
released its first draft of the Personal Information Protection Law (the “Draft Law”) for public
comment (official Chinese version available here). The period for public comment ends on
November 19, 2020 and comments can be submitted through NPC’s official website.As the country’s first comprehensive law in the area of personal information protection, the Draft
Law aims to “protect the rights and interests of individuals,” “regulate personal information
processing activities,” “safeguard the lawful and orderly flow of data,” and “facilitate reasonable
use of personal information” (Art. 1).Although bearing a resemblance to the European Union’s (“EU”) General Data Protection
Regulation (“GDPR”) and other recent privacy legislation in major jurisdictions in some
important areas, the Draft Law introduces a number of provisions that are consistent with recent
trends in other Chinese laws in the areas of data and technology, such as the draft Data
Security Law and the newly enacted Export Control Law. These include, for example, rules
establishing extraterritoriality of the Draft Law and a “black list” that would restrict or prohibit
listed foreign organizations from receiving personal information from China.
Read more on Cov.com (pdf).