Beijing E-Town Completes the City’s First Negative List Filing for Cross-Border Data Transfers

Beijing E-Town Completes the City’s First Negative List Filing for Cross-Border Data Transfers

The 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services is currently underway in Beijing. On September 13, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town, or BDA) announced that Bayer Healthcare Company Limited successfully completed the negative list filing for cross-border data transfers in the High-End Industrial Section of Beijing E-Town’s Pilot Free Trade Zone. As of September 11, Bayer has become the first enterprise in the city to achieve compliant cross-border data transfers under the Free Trade Zone’s negative list policy.

Bayer Healthcare Company Limited successfully completed the negative list filing for cross-border data transfers in the High-End Industrial Section of Beijing E-Town’s Pilot Free Trade Zone.

“We submitted the negative list filing based on our business needs, and it took only five business days from submission to receiving the approval. Compared to the previous compliance requirements before the negative list policy was introduced, the new process has significantly simplified the application and review procedures,” said a representative from Bayer Healthcare Company Limited, praising the convenience that the negative list policy has brought to the company. “Completing the negative list filing for cross-border data transfers has streamlined the necessary procedures, solving the compliance challenges we faced and ensuring the smooth operation of our business. This allows us to bring innovative medicines and treatment solutions to patients in China more quickly, contributing to national strategies such as Healthy China and high-quality development.”

An official from the BDA explained that after the release of the Measures for the Facilitation of Cross-Border Data Flows in Beijing, Beijing E-Town was the first to issue a document for implementing the city’s negative list policy for cross-border data transfers. This document, titled Implementation Opinions on the Negative List for Cross-Border Data Transfers in the E-Town Section of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone’s High-End Industrial Zone, supports enterprises in the Free Trade Zone by enabling them to carry out cross-border data transfers under the negative list. It also reinforces the responsibility of data processors as the primary entities responsible for cross-border data transfers and establishes a closed-loop supervision mechanism, which includes periodic reporting, spot checks, and inspections. The initiative is designed to achieve four key outcomes: a comprehensive cross-border data transfer negative list, data management measures, a data services system, and exemplary case studies aligned with Beijing E-Town’s industrial development needs.

Furthermore, the Beijing Cross-Border Data Services Center (BDA Service Station) recently began operations at the Xinchuang Park in E-Town. As one of the first four data service centers in Beijing, this service station provides enterprises with one-stop services, including policy consultation, application submission, filing evaluation, supervision, and technical support for the negative list on cross-border data transfers.

The BDA official added, “Moving forward, we will leverage the service station to conduct research on the enterprises’ needs related to the negative list, helping more companies complete their filings. Additionally, we will enhance supervision, risk prevention, and other related work to regulate and promote the orderly flow of cross-border data in practice. This will further improve the management capabilities and convenience of cross-border data transfers for E-Town-based enterprises.”