FM proposes Global Initiative on Data Security

China has not and will not ask its companies to transfer data overseas to the Chinese government in breach of other countries’ laws, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, calling for countries to uphold multilateralism to tackle data security issues.

China has clear legal provisions for protecting data security and personal information, and its government has strictly complied with data security principles, Wang said at the International Seminar on Global Digital Governance via video link in Beijing.

He said “extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefits” are the right path to tackling the deficit in global digital governance.

Rules on global data security should be formulated on the basis of the participation of all parties, and the rules should reflect the wishes of all countries and respect the interests of all parties, Wang said.

Emphasizing that data security protection should be based on facts and law, Wang criticized “politicization of security issues, double standards and slandering others”, saying such activities will seriously disrupt global digital development.

He criticized a certain country that engages in unilateralism, blames other countries with groundless accusations in the name of a “clean” network and conducts global hunts against other countries’ leading enterprises by using security as an excuse.

“This is sheer bullying and should be opposed and abandoned,” Wang added.

Wang said protecting data security is very important to the healthy development of the digital economy, and all countries have the right to protect their own data security in accordance with the law.

“At the same time, all enterprises should be offered an open, fair and nondiscriminatory business environment,” he said, adding that protectionism in the digital industry runs counter to globalization and undermines equal access to digital services.

In his address to the seminar, Wang proposed a Global Initiative on Data Security, encouraged the participation and support of countries and international organizations and called for “good ideas and suggestions from all sides”.

In this initiative, China calls upon various parties to treat data security objectively and reasonably and opposes sabotaging the critical infrastructure of other countries or stealing important data using information technology.

The initiative asks the countries to encourage companies to abide by the laws and regulations of where they operate. And it says countries should not request domestic companies to store data generated and obtained overseas in their own territory.

Lu Chuanying, a cybersecurity and digital economy researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the initiative was timely and shows China’s will to promote the establishment of international rules on digital governance and its opposition to hegemony.

Without such rules, unilateral practices, such as imposing sanctions on companies will risk reversing globalization by deterring companies from doing business overseas, Lu said.

Also, countries tend to go their own way in dealing with data security issues when there is a lack of international rules, and the behavior by some may “undermine the development of the global economy” and “intensify the fragmentation of cyberspace”, Lu said.

Editor’s note: China proposed the Global Initiative on Data Security at the International Seminar on Global Digital Governance held Tuesday with the theme of “seizing digital opportunities for cooperation and development”. The following is the full text of the initiative:

The phenomenal development of information technology revolution and digital economy is transforming the way of production and life, exerting far-reaching influence over social and economic development of states, global governance system and human civilization.

The explosive growth and aggregation of data, as a key element of digital technology, has played a crucial role in facilitating innovative development and reshaping people’s lives, bearing on security and economic and social development of states.

In the context of closer global cooperation and new development of international division of labor, maintaining supply chain security of information and communications technology products and services has never become more important for boosting users’ confidence, ensuring data security and promoting digital economy.

We call on all states to put equal emphasis on development and security, and take a balanced approach to technological progress, economic development and protection of national security and public interests.

We reaffirm that states should foster an open, fair and nondiscriminatory business environment for mutual benefit, win-win outcomes and common development. At the same time, states have the responsibility and right to ensure the security of important data and personal information bearing on their national security, public security, economic security and social stability.

We welcome governments, international organizations, ICT companies, technology communities, civil organizations, individuals and all other actors to make concerted efforts to promote data security under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.

We underscore that all parties should step up dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, and join hands to forge a community with a shared future in cyberspace featuring peace, security, openness, cooperation and order. To make this happen, we would like to suggest the following:

— States should handle data security in a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner, and maintain an open, secure and stable supply chain of global ICT products and services.

— States should stand against ICT activities that impair or steal important data of other states’ critical infrastructure, or use the data to conduct activities that undermine other states’ national security and public interests.

— States should take actions to prevent and put an end to activities that jeopardize personal information through the use of ICTs, and oppose mass surveillance against other states and unauthorized collection of personal information of other states with ICTs as a tool.

— States should encourage companies to abide by laws and regulations of the state where they operate. States should not request domestic companies to store data generated and obtained overseas in their own territory.

— States should respect the sovereignty, jurisdiction and governance of data of other states, and shall not obtain data located in other states through companies or individuals without other states’ permission.

— Should states need to obtain overseas data out of law enforcement requirement such as combating crimes, they should do it through judicial assistance or other relevant multilateral and bilateral agreements. Any bilateral data access agreement between two states should not infringe upon the judicial sovereignty and data security of a third state.

— ICT products and services providers should not install backdoors in their products and services to illegally obtain users’ data, control or manipulate users’ systems and devices.

— ICT companies should not seek illegitimate interests by taking advantage of users’ dependence on their products, nor force users to upgrade their systems and devices. Products providers should make a commitment to notifying their cooperation partners and users of serious vulnerabilities in their products in a timely fashion and offering remedies.

We call on all states to support this initiative, and confirm the aforementioned commitments through bilateral, regional and international agreements. We also welcome global ICT companies to support this initiative.