China will formulate a national intelligence law this year, the head of its largely rubber-stamp parliament said on Wednesday, its latest piece of legislation aimed at safeguarding security.
Zhang Dejiang, who is also the third-ranked leader of the ruling Communist Party, gave no details about the proposed law in his address to parliament’s annual meeting, and it is not clear when it may be passed.
The government said in December it would propose such a law to “increase and guarantee national intelligence and protect national security and interests”, but also gave no details.
The legislators will revise the law on administrative supervision to turn it into a national supervision law this year, Zhang said.
China already has broad laws governing state secrets and security.
Last year, it adopted a controversial cyber security law to counter what the government says are growing threats such as hacking and terrorism.