Data Compliance in China: A Roadmap for Foreign Investors
Published: October 2025In China’s fast-evolving digital landscape, data compliance has become a strategic imperative – not just a legal obligation. This issue of China Briefing Magazine offers foreign investors a clear roadmap through the country’s complex regulatory terrain, from cross-border data transfers to localization rules and sector-specific enforcement. Packed with expert insights and practical guidance, it’s an essential read for business leaders, legal teams, and IT professionals looking to turn compliance into competitive advantage.
China’s digital economy is booming, and with it, the regulatory framework governing data use and transfers is becoming more sophisticated. For foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), navigating China’s data compliance rules – especially around personal information, important data, and cross-border flows – requires more than just copying global models. This publication explores the legal foundations, recent enforcement trends, and practical strategies for building compliance systems that are locally attuned and globally aligned.
Data Compliance in China: A Roadmap for Foreign Investors is a must-read for legal teams, compliance officers, IT decision-makers, and business leaders operating in China. It provides clarity on regulatory expectations and equips companies with tools to manage risk, enhance operational efficiency, and build trust with regulators and partners.
In this issue, you’ll find:
- Legal foundations and enforcement trends: Understand the evolution of China’s data laws and how enforcement is shaping business practices.
- Compliance as a competitive edge: Explore the common challenges faced by FIEs and discover the key pillars for building a resilient, future-proof data compliance framework tailored to China’s regulatory logic.
- Data compliance hotspots in 2025 and beyond: Navigate six high-impact areas – from data classification and consent management to cross-border transfer and localization rules – that are shaping the next wave of compliance priorities.
Whether you're entering the China market or refining your compliance framework, this publication offers a clear roadmap to stay ahead in one of the world’s most dynamic regulatory environments.