Global Cross-border Data Flow
Cooperation Initiative
As digital technologies increasingly permeate every aspect of daily life and production, the global digital economy has experienced rapid development, with digital societies emerging as new spaces for sharing the progress of human civilization. As an essential element in the digital economy, data is playing an increasingly important role in innovative development and public governance. Cross-border data flows are vital to e-commerce, digital trade, and various aspects of global economic, technological and cultural activities. It can reduce trade cost, enhance companies' capacity to engage in international trade, facilitate trade processes, accelerate industrial digitalization, bridge the digital divide, and foster a new type of globalization driven by data flows. Currently, the international community is actively exploring and establishing global rules and order in the digital sphere. Bilateral and multilateral efforts such as the Global Digital Compact by the United Nations, negotiations on e-commerce at the World Trade Organization, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement exemplify the shared willingness of and choices made by countries and regions worldwide to promote cooperation on cross-border data flows.
We noticed that, while promoting global cross-border data flows, countries are primarily concerned with risks related to national security, public interests, personal privacy, and intellectual property. We believe that the international community should fully respect the different policies and practices adopted by various countries and regions based on their specific conditions. It is crucial to pay heed to each party's concerns regarding data security and development and to work toward building consensus on cross-border data flow rules through consultation among countries and regions.
We call on all countries to uphold principles of openness, inclusiveness, security, cooperation, and non-discrimination, balance the promotion of digital technology innovation, the development of the digital economy, and the advancement of digital society with the protection of national security, public interests, personal privacy, and intellectual property, and foster cross-border data flows while ensuring that each country's legitimate policy goals are met. We hope that governments, international organizations, businesses, and civil society will adhere to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. By playing their respective roles, they can promote global cooperation on cross-border data flow, jointly build a mechanism to ensure efficient, convenient and safe cross-border data flow and an open and mutually beneficial landscape for international cooperation in the data sphere, and ensure that the benefits of digital advancements are shared by people worldwide.
To make this happen, we suggest the following:
——Governments should encourage electronic cross-border data transmission to meet the needs of business and social activities. This will help global e-commerce and digital trade serve as new drivers for economic growth and sustainable development.
——Governments should respect the regulatory differences of various countries and regions in cross-border data flows. They should support free data flows that do not violate national security, public interests, and personal privacy. Regulations on cross-border data flows should be permitted when they aim to achieve legitimate public policy objectives on the premise that such regulatory measures do not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade, and do not cross the limits of the goals they seek to achieve.
——Governments should respect security measures taken by all countries in accordance with their laws to protect non-personal data related to national security and public interests, and ensure the secure and orderly cross-border flows of relevant non-personal data.
——Governments should respect measures taken by all countries to protect personal information rights and interests including individual privacy. Countries should be encouraged to provide convenient channels for cross-border transmission of personal information on the condition that such information is well protected. Countries should be encouraged to establish and improve legal and supervision frameworks on personal information protection, conduct exchanges on best practices and experiences, improve the compatibility of personal information protection mechanisms and rules, and foster mutual recognition of relevant standards, technology regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Enterprises should be encouraged to obtain personal information protection certifications to demonstrate their compliance with personal information protection standards and ensure the secure and orderly cross-border flows of personal information.
——Governments should support exploring the establishment of negative lists for managing cross-border data flow to promote efficient, convenient and safe cross-border data flow.
——Governments should work together to create a data flow and usage environment that is open, inclusive, secure, and non-discriminatory, jointly uphold a fair and just market order, and promote the orderly and healthy development of the digital economy.
——Governments should enhance the transparency, predictability, and non-discriminatory nature of measures managing the cross-border flows of various types of data, as well as the interoperability of policy frameworks.
——Governments should actively conduct international cooperation in the field of cross-border data flows. Support should be given to developing countries and the least developed countries to enable them to effectively participate in and utilize cross-border data flows so as to promote their digital economic growth. Developed countries should be encouraged to provide capacity building and technical assistance to developing countries, especially the least developed ones, in order to bridge the digital divide and achieve fair and sustainable development.
——Governments should encourage the use of digital technologies to promote innovative applications in cross-border data flows. They should improve technological capabilities to ensure efficient, convenient and safe cross-border data flows. They should advance international mutual recognition of evaluation standards for technical and security assurance capabilities related to cross-border data flows, and ensure effective intellectual property protection.
——Governments should oppose overstretching the concept of national security on data issues. They should object to making restrictive and differentiated policies on cross-border data flows targeting specific countries and enterprises without factual evidence, or implementing discriminatory restrictions, prohibitions, and other similar measures against specific countries and enterprises.
——Governments should prohibit illicit acquisition of data through methods such as setting up backdoors in digital products and services or exploiting vulnerabilities in digital technology infrastructure. They should collaborate to crack down on cross-border illegal activities in the data field and jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and enterprises in all countries.
We are ready to carry out and deepen exchanges and cooperation in the field of cross-border data flows with all parties based on the above initiative. We call on all countries and regions to respond to and endorse the above initiative through bilateral, multilateral, or regional agreements and arrangements. We welcome the support of international organizations, businesses, and civil society for this initiative.
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