China broadens legislature on state security to include 'work secrets'

Chinese lawmakers have expanded a state secrets law for the first time since 2010, widening the scope of restricted sensitive information to "work secrets", according to a full text of the law published online.

China's top legislative body passed the revised Law on Guarding State Secrets on Tuesday, Xinhua state news agency reported. It will take effect from May 1.
 

Foreign business lobbies and analysts say the expanded law is further evidence of Chinese President Xi Jinping's increased focus on national security which has already led to a wide-ranging update to Beijing's anti-espionage law last April that some countries fear could be used to punish regular business activities.
 

"China's increasing focus on national security has raised uncertainty for business," said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.
 

"The scope of issues deemed sensitive seems to be constantly expanding, which makes it more difficult for companies to access information necessary for making investment decisions related to their China operations." Raids last year by Chinese police on several management consultancies, including Mintz Group and Bain & Co., raised concerns among the foreign business community in China, and a Japanese pharmaceutical executive has also been detained in Beijing on espionage allegations since last March.
 

A public consultation period for a new national security law in Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, closes on Wednesday amid concerns that the legislation will further erode freedoms there.
 

State secrets in China currently involve areas ranging from government and Communist Party decision-making to military and diplomatic activities, as well as economic development, science and technology.
 

The update to the state secrets law requires government agencies and work units to protect pieces of information "that are not state secrets but will cause certain adverse effects if leaked".
 

It added that rules on the specific management of work secrets would be released separately, without giving a date.
 

Ryan Mitchell, professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, said the addition of "work secrets" appears to broaden what he called an already broad scope of the law's application.
 

"It seems likely that this change is intended to avoid leaking of information regarding the organizational structure and decision-making hierarchy of state institutions," he added.
 

The revised law would "strengthen the systematisation, comprehensiveness and synergy" of the set of laws concerning national security and state secrets, an unnamed official from the State Secrets Bureau was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
 

"This revision ... has clearly written the Party's management of secrecy into the law," the official said, adding that online operators should "cooperate with relevant departments in investigating and handling cases suspected of leaking state secrets".

The legislation also "strengthens" coordination with China's Data Security Law for the management of confidential data, the official said.
 

The Ministry of State Security has increasingly taken to its official WeChat social media account since last year to warn the public to stay vigilant against foreign espionage efforts.
 

European chamber head Eskelund described the "work secrets" provision as "vague" and at odds with the Chinese government's stated aim of prioritising the stabilisation of foreign investment this year.
 

"If China intends to shore up foreign investor confidence, then the law's implementing regulations need to clearly define and limit the scope of this term," he said.
 

"This should prevent compliance overreach among government departments when adhering to the law, and should ensure that companies can still access legitimate sources of information."