The computer code is seen on a screen over a Chinese flag in this July 12, 2017 illustration photo.
Thomas White | Reuters
BEIJING – Chinese companies that want to go public, including those abroad, must meet two main aspects of a broader set of regulations, the country’s deputy cybersecurity regulator said on Tuesday.
One of the national laws and regulations said Sheng Ronghua, vice minister of China’s Cyberspace Administration. The other is to ensure the security of the national network, the “critical information infrastructure” and personal data.
Comments on the importance of these two rules come in particular, as the uncertainty of this summer’s policy has essentially halted Chinese quotations in the United States, following an increase in overseas bids in early of this year.
The observations also come from China’s Cyberspace Administration, which has increased its influence in recent months. He ordered app stores to withdraw the Chinese Didi app a few days after its major IPO in the United States in late June. The regulator also told subsidiaries of two other Chinese companies that recently listed in the U.S. to suspend new user registration while under investigation to “prevent national data security risks.”
In late July, a source familiar with the matter said that the vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Fang Xinghai, told major investment banks that Chinese companies could still go public in the states. United by the commonly used legal structure known as the structure of variable interest entities, except national security. concerns.
Deputy Minister of Cyberspace Administration Sheng spoke to Mandarin journalists on Tuesday at a news conference on a new policy to protect critical information infrastructure, which will take effect on September 1st.
As he pointed out, Article 2 of the policy defines this infrastructure as areas where dysfunction or loss of data would jeopardize national security, the economy, people’s livelihoods and the public interest. These industries include public communications and information services, energy, transportation, water, finance and utilities, according to the policy paper.
The policy requires a review of the national security of Chinese purchases of network products and services, with fines or arrest for non-compliance.
In response to a question about whether foreign ownership changed, Sheng said the form of business ownership should not define “critical infrastructure.”
“For a long time, we have actively supported Internet information companies to fund and develop themselves in accordance with laws and regulations,” he said, according to a CNBC translation.