Legal assistant Fang Jingxiao in the firm's Beijing office provided valuable assistance on this article.

The People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) does not possess a comprehensive legal framework to regulate the use and disclosure of personal data. Although the introduction of a national, generally applicable data privacy law remains elusive, recent months have seen a resurgent, if piecemeal, legislative interest in the topic. Notable developments in 2009 have included an amendment to the national Criminal Law to criminalize the sale or other unlawful disclosure of personal data by government officials and employees in certain key industries, and further legislative progress of the draft Torts Liability Law, a long-debated measure with potentially important privacy implications. More detailed information about these developments and the overall data protection regime in China can be found in our earlier client update at:

http://www.mofo.com/international/CN_en/news/15332.html

Please see full update below for more information.