China’s Cybersecurity Law calls for mandatory breach notification and a robust incident response capability

March 2020

Cyber breach incidents are on the rise. According to the results of the 2019 PwC China Unicorn CEO Survey, CEOs believe that data security and privacy protection are the external factors that will have the greatest impact on their companies in the next 1-3 years. While companies may choose to remain silent and keep things under wraps when cyber incidents occur, wherever possible, China’s Cybersecurity Law (“CSL”), effective from June 1, 2017, sets out comprehensive requirements for cyber incident response and breach management, including mandatory breach notifications and penalties for failure to comply.