China plans to ease one of the biggest hurdles for foreign business

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — Chinese authorities are signaling a softer stance on once-stringent data rules, among recent moves to ease regulation for business, especially foreign ones.

Over the last few years, China has tightened control of data collection and export with new laws. But foreign businesses have found it difficult to comply — if not operate — due to vague wording on terms such as «important data.»

Now, in a proposed update, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has said no government oversight is needed for data exports if regulators haven't stipulated that it qualifies as «important.»

That's according to draft rules released late Sept. 28, a day before the country went on an eight-day holiday. The public comment period closes Oct. 15.

«The release of the draft is seen as a signal from the Chinese Government that it is listening to businesses' concerns and is ready to take steps to address them, which is a positive,» the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement to CNBC.

«The draft regulation relieves companies of some of the difficulties with cross-border data transfer and personal information protection partly by specifying a list of exemptions to relevant obligations and partly by providing more clarity on how data handlers can verify what is qualified by authorities as 'important data,'» the EU Chamber said.

The EU Chamber and other business organizations have lobbied the Chinese government for better operating conditions.

The cybersecurity regulator's draft rules also said data generated during international trade, academic cooperation, manufacturing and marketing can be sent overseas without government oversight — as long as they don't include personal information or «important data.»

«This