On 12 September 2022, the CAC circulated for public comment the Decision to Amend the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft to Solicit Comments).
The draft amendment of the Cybersecurity Law addressed the following perspectives：
- Highlighting the importance of cybersecurity management
tools. The Graded Protection System for Cybersecurity and the
Catalog of Critical Network Equipment and Specialized Cybersecurity
Products(“Catalog”) have become the core tools for
cybersecurity management. The Graded Protection System for
Cybersecurity is the security certification and management measure
for network access systems, while the Catalog has become
a market access gateway for critical network equipment. Violation
of the above requirements will be subject to severe penalty.
- Emphasizing the core obligations of the Critical
Information Infrastructure Operator (“CIIO”). The
existing provisions do not clarify what kind of network operator
would be defined as a CIIO. In practice, it mainly counts on the
notice from regulatory authorities. We suggest companies conduct
self-identification and communicate with the regulatory authorities
in a proactive manner to determine whether they are CIIO or not.
The draft amendment would raise the financial penalties for
non-compliance of CIIOs to an unprecedented level of up to 5% of
its last annual turnover.
- Underlining Information Security and Content Security. Network operators' infringement of the aforementioned requirement will be subject to severe penalties such as a business operation ban or even withdrawal from the market. The personnel concerned will be subject to a qualification ban for a certain period of time.
Throughout the draft provisions published by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the amendment mainly focuses on aggravating administrative penalties on the perspectives mentioned above, further highlighting the importance of cybersecurity to national security.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.