Implications of China’s Evolving Data Protection Laws on Discovery and Participation of Chinese Parties in International Arbitration

As part of 2022 Hong Kong Arbitration Week organized by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, over 130 attendees joined Morrison Foerster’s panel discussion on “Implications of China’s Evolving Data Protection Laws on Discovery and Participation of Chinese Parties in International Arbitration” in a hybrid format on October 24, 2022.

In 2021, China enacted various laws and regulations to strengthen the nation’s data protection regime, including the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), Cybersecurity Law (“CSL”), and the Data Security Law (“DSL”). The DSL, for example, requires that regulatory approval be obtained before any data stored in the territory of PRC is provided to “foreign judicial or law enforcement authority.”

This panel discussion focused on the implications of China’s data protection laws on discovery, and participation in international arbitration by Chinese parties. The seminar also considered the various ways in which China’s data protection laws may prove to be an obstacle to international arbitrations and offered practical tips on how to manage the risks.

MoFo Partner Sarah Thomas spoke at this panel, along with Fanghan Chen of HKIAC, Kathleen Paisley of AMBOS Lawyer, and Samuel Yang of Anjie Law Firm. The seminar was moderated by MoFo Associate Cheryl Zhu.

Below is the full recording of our seminar and here is a recap article authored by MoFo associates Yi-Jun Kang and Rong Gu. Subscribe to our arbitration mailing list to receive the latest legal analysis and event invites.