Beijing postpones portion of cybersecurity law

China has postponed enforcement of part of a cybersecurity law that companies warn violates Beijing’s free-trade pledges but says most of it will take effect today as planned.

Communist authorities say the measures are needed to prevent crime and terrorism and to protect privacy. Companies and foreign governments complain the law will hamper market access and is being rushed into force before Beijing has told companies how to comply.

“This certainly will be a huge impact,” said Michael Chang, a vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

“The situation is still a lot of uncertainty and unclarified terms,” Chang said. “We still see a lack of tangible rules for business to follow.”

The latest version of measures sent to companies on regulation of cross-border movement of data says they take effect today but enforcement is postponed for 18 months to Dec. 31, 2018.

It gave no explanation for the postponement. But it followed appeals by a coalition of dozens of global business groups for a delay until the rules could be made consistent with World Trade Organization regulations.

Other measures including how to define important data and security standards for computer equipment take effect today, according to the Cyberspace Administration of China, the agency responsible for enforcing them.

The law will “protect the broad masses of people and effectively safeguard national cyberspace sovereignty and security,” the agency said yesterday on its website.

A measure on how to define important data takes effect today, five days after it was released Saturday for a 30-day comment period.

Beijing has issued a series of measures over the past decade to tighten control over data, minimize reliance on foreign security technology and promote China’s fledgling providers. Business groups and China’s trading partners complain that violates its market-opening pledges.

President Xi Jinping’s government has cast itself as a public defender of global free trade in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s promises to limit imports. But business groups say Beijing appears to be trying to squeeze foreign competitors out of promising fields including agriculture-related biotechnology, health products and data security. AP