On October 26, China’s National People’s Congress passed the Cryptography Law, two years after an initial draft was released in April 2017. Long overdue given the importance of cryptography in cyber and information security, the Law, which will go into effect on New Year’s Day 2020, will bring sweeping changes to existing regulations, with both security and commercial implications. The stated purpose of the Law is as follows: 1) to regulate encryption application and management; 2) to facilitate the development of the encryption industry; 3) to protect network and information security; 4) to safeguard national security and public interest; 5) to protect the legal rights of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations (Article 1).

… Zi Yang is a Senior Analyst with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.