RCEP Basic Security Exceptions for Cross-Border Data Flows and China's Response

Abstract

With the booming development of digital economy, the cross-border activities of data are becoming more and more frequent. At present, data has become an important national strategic resource in the information age. Rational data flow plays an important role in promoting economic growth, accelerating innovation and facilitating globalization. The current global cross-border data flow regulatory system is in a critical period of formation. In the context of the continuous improvement of the current rules system at the regional level, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), as an important regional free trade area agreement (FTA), has made new provisions on the cross-border flow of data, and the regional data flow rules represented by RCEP profoundly reflect that the rules of global cross-border data flow should not be completely dominated and formulated by developed economies, and all kinds of sovereign countries All kinds of sovereign countries should have the right to participate and the right to speak in the system. The regulation of global data cross-border flows in the digital economy is not only motivated by economic interests, but more importantly, by the protection of national interests. Therefore, under the current data governance system, China should use RCEP as an external driving force to revise and improve the relevant domestic rules on cross-border data flows, so as to promote the benign development of the data governance system, accelerate the promotion of the free flow of data across borders, strengthen cooperation with the international community, continuously expand the intersection of rules on cross-border data flows, achieve convergence of rules, and promote the Chinese solution for the governance of cross-border data flows.