The last version of China’s Anti-Espionage Law, which came into force on 1st July 2023, significantly expands the definition of espionage to include the handling or sharing of information that could be seen as a threat to national security. This broad definition puts foreign life sciences companies operating in China at risk, as routine business activities could now be interpreted as a threat to national security. This law also grants extensive powers to the Chinese authorities to implement national security measures, including arrests.
One immediate consequence of this law is that three German states recently suspended the travel of their inspectors responsible for monitoring pharmaceutical facilities in China, due to the risk of the inspectors being arrested, prompting the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to respond on 19th August 2024 that "China is a country ruled by law". more
