China's cybersecurity law will not prevent cooperation

Significance

The major question now is how the law will be implemented, and particularly how that will affect China’s international counterparts, both commercial actors and states.

Impacts

• Delayed implementation of data transfer requirements may benefit foreign businesses, but also the expansion of their Chinese competitors.
• At the policymaking level, China’s technocrats seem inclined towards convergence with international and foreign regulatory regimes.
• Implementation of the law will be strongly influenced by sudden prominent events in the rapidly changing cybersecurity arena.