Over the past decade, the CCP has been consistently developing the legislation

Over the past decade, the CCP has been consistently developing the legislation regulating the activities of Chinese intelligence services. The CCP aims to broaden the concept of national security, to further expand the mandate of intelligence services, to ensure effective coordination, and develop an intelligence support system that engages the whole of Chinese society. The legislation governing the activities of intelligence services and China’s foreign policy currently states that:

• Chinese citizens, government institutions, political parties, enterprises and organisations are obliged to safeguard the country’s sovereignty, dignity, honour, and interests at home and abroad.

• Chinese citizens and organisations are obliged to provide information and other assistance to Chinese intelligence services in order to protect China’s national security interests.

• Chinese citizens travelling abroad for study, work or internship are required to respond to threats to China’s national security. They are briefed before leaving China in accordance with the counter-intelligence risk prevention programme and debriefed by counter-intelligence officers upon their return.

• Chinese business companies must ensure that Chinese intelligence services have access to their documents, computers, data storage, information systems, and physical infrastructure.

• Telecommunications companies and Internet service providers based in China are required to store their data on Chinese territory and to ensure that Chinese government agencies have access to it for inspections.

• Chinese institutions have the right to take action against foreign entities in China if they determine that the entity is involved in the implementation of sanctions against China.

• Chinese intelligence services have the right to detain foreign citizens in China if they determine that the foreign citizen possesses information relevant to the national security. Publicly available data, such as Internet search history, official statistics, maps and photographs may be considered sensitive information by Chinese intelligence services.