China’s data-security management must fill holes and be put under microscope, central bank says
- Cross-border financial information will be more intensely scrutinised by Chinese authorities, as a matter of national security
- Foreign companies are already scrambling to assess and change data policies to keep China-related information in China
The authorities who oversee China’s cross-border financial data say it must receive greater state scrutiny, and that clearer boundaries and accountability are needed in data-processing activities that the nation’s central bank engages in.
In draft guidelines posted on Monday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said this enhanced scrutiny and oversight will apply to a number of areas, including currency policies, the cross-border yuan business, interbank transactions, settlements, digital yuan business, and anti-money-laundering operations.
“[The draft] aims to fill gaps in data-security management and guide data-management staff of finance-related companies to legally carry out activities related to China’s central bank,” it says on the PBOC’s website.
The draft is soliciting public feedback until August 24.
Beijing enacted a data-security law in September 2021 that has haunted foreign-funded companies and overseas-listed Chinese companies because of its vague definition of important data and local implementation.