Data transfer in China is generally a difficult process. However, on August 30, 2024, China’s Municipal Cyberspace Administration, Municipal Bureau of Commerce, as well as the Beijing Bureau of Government Services and Data Administration, issued the “Administrative Measures for the Negative List Data Exit of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Trial)” and the “Data Exit Administrative List (Negative List) of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (2024 Edition).” The purpose of these measures is to promote cross-border data transfer in multiple industries, including the pharmaceuticals industry, and to issue significant exemptions from prior restrictions on data transfer.
Pharmaceutical companies located in the Beijing Free Trade Zone (FTZ) are now permitted to transfer certain data outside of China without worrying about standard contracts, security assessments, or personal information protection certifications. This relaxed regulation is limited to patients’ personal data, health information, and other information related to therapeutic interventions. The volume of data matters as well. For example, if a company transfers data on fewer than 10,000 individuals in a calendar year, none of the required transfer mechanisms are applicable.
The Negative List contains detailed categories and thresholds of data that are required to comply with certain procedures to be exported overseas. However, even after the issuance of the Negative List, the most stringent restrictions are preserved for transfers of “Important Data,” which still require a Security Assessment. Despite this new data transfer policy in Beijing, companies operating outside of the Beijing FTZ still remain bound by the applicable prior restrictions – unless the implementation of these relaxed rules is expanded in the future.
Written by: Ames Gross – President and Founder, Pacific Bridge Medical (PBM)
Mr. Gross founded PBM in 1988 and has helped hundreds of medical companies with regulatory and business development issues in Asia. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the Asian medical markets. Mr. Gross has a BA degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.