(Promulgated by Order No. 126 of the State Administration for Market Regulation on February 24, 2026, effective as of June 1, 2026)

Article 1

These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law”) in order to strengthen the protection of trade secrets and maintain a fair and competitive market order.

Article 2

Business operators shall, in acquiring, disclosing, using, or permitting others to use trade secrets, follow the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness, and good faith, abide by laws, regulations and rules as well as business ethics, and participate in market competition fairly.

For the purposes of these Provisions, “business operators” refer to natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations engaged in the production or sale of commodities or the provision of services (commodities as mentioned hereinafter include services).

Article 3

The State Administration for Market Regulation shall be responsible for organizing and guiding the nationwide administrative protection of trade secrets.

Market regulation authorities at or above the county level shall be responsible for the administrative protection of trade secrets within their respective administrative regions.

Cases involving technical secrets shall generally fall under the jurisdiction of market regulation authorities at or above the districted city level. Where necessary for work purposes and with the approval of the State Administration for Market Regulation, county-level market regulation authorities with corresponding law enforcement capabilities may also exercise jurisdiction.

Article 4

Market regulation authorities shall, through publicity and interpretation, special training, and other means, guide business operators to establish and improve trade secret protection systems, enhance awareness and capabilities for trade secret protection, and promote the overall improvement of protection standards.

Business operators are encouraged to establish and improve trade secret protection management systems, actively adopt effective measures in light of their industry characteristics, technical requirements, and competitive advantages to strengthen internal control and compliance management of confidential elements, and prevent and stop acts of trade secret infringement. Business operators are encouraged to innovate forms of trade secret protection and strengthen protection through certification, evidence preservation, and other means.

Industry associations shall strengthen industry self-discipline and guide and regulate lawful competition within the industry by formulating industry-specific trade secret protection standards and compliance guidelines, so as to maintain market competition order.

Article 5

For the purposes of these Provisions, “trade secrets” refer to technical information, business information, and other commercial information that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and for which the rights holder has taken corresponding confidentiality measures.

Information related to technology, including structures, raw materials, formulas, materials, samples, designs, processes, methods, data, algorithms, computer programs, codes, and other information, constitutes “technical information” as referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Information related to business operations, including creativity, management, sales, finance, planning, samples, customer information, data, and other information, constitutes “business information” as referred to in the first paragraph. Customer information includes customers’ names (or personal names), addresses, contact information, as well as transaction habits, intentions, content, and other information.

Article 6

“Not known to the public” as referred to in these Provisions means that, at the time the alleged infringement of trade secrets occurs, the relevant commercial information is not generally known to and not readily accessible by relevant personnel in the field to which it pertains.

The following circumstances shall be deemed as information known to the public:
(1) The information constitutes general knowledge or industry practice within the relevant field;
(2) The information only involves simple combinations of product dimensions, structures, materials, components, etc., which can be directly obtained by relevant personnel in the field through observation of products available on the market;
(3) The information has been publicly disclosed in published materials or other media;
(4) The information has been publicly disclosed through open reports, exhibitions, or similar means;
(5) Relevant personnel in the field can obtain the information from other public channels.

Where commercial information known to the public is reorganized, improved, or processed to form new information that meets the requirements of Paragraph 1, it shall be deemed as not known to the public.

Article 7

“Having commercial value” as referred to in these Provisions means that the commercial information has actual or potential value and can bring commercial benefits or competitive advantages to the rights holder, such as asset increase, revenue or profit growth, increase in user numbers, cost reduction, shortened R&D time, increased transaction opportunities, or enhancement of business reputation or product goodwill.

Interim results formed in the course of production and business operations, or failed experimental data or technical solutions, that meet the requirements of the preceding paragraph shall be deemed as having commercial value.

Article 8

“Rights holder” as referred to in these Provisions means the owner of the trade secret and the licensee or authorized party permitted or authorized by the owner of the trade secret.

Article 9

“Corresponding confidentiality measures taken by the rights holder” means reasonable confidentiality measures adopted by the rights holder, commensurate with factors such as the nature of the trade secret and its carrier and the commercial value of the trade secret, to prevent disclosure.

The following circumstances shall be deemed as corresponding confidentiality measures:
(1) Concluding confidentiality agreements or stipulating confidentiality obligations in contracts;
(2) Proposing confidentiality requirements to employees, former employees, suppliers, customers, visitors, and others who may access or obtain trade secrets through establishing rules and regulations, conducting training, or providing written notice;
(3) Prohibiting or restricting entry into confidential production and business premises such as factories, workshops, laboratories, offices, or implementing differentiated management thereof;
(4) Adopting technical confidentiality measures such as graded access control, data desensitization, and operation log retention for scenarios such as remote work and cross-border collaboration;
(5) Managing trade secrets and their carriers separately through marking, classification, isolation, encryption, sealing, restricting the scope of persons who may access or obtain them, etc.;
(6) Prohibiting or restricting the use, access, storage, or copying of computer equipment, network equipment, storage devices, etc., that may access or obtain trade secrets;
(7) Requiring departing employees to register, return, clear, or destroy trade secrets and their carriers they have accessed or obtained and continue to bear confidentiality obligations;
(8) Other reasonable confidentiality measures.

Article 10

Business operators shall not obtain trade secrets of the rights holder by theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, electronic intrusion, or other improper means.

The following circumstances constitute “improper means”:

(1) Without authorization or beyond the scope of authorization, accessing, possessing, or copying carriers under the control of the rights holder that contain trade secrets or from which trade secrets can be derived;

(2) Obtaining trade secrets by bribing, coercing, or deceiving employees, former employees of the rights holder, or other entities or individuals through providing property or other property-related benefits, personal threats, etc.;

(3) Without authorization or beyond the scope of authorization, entering the rights holder’s digital office systems, servers, email accounts, cloud storage, application accounts, etc., or obtaining trade secrets by technical means such as planting malicious programs or exploiting vulnerabilities;

(4) Without authorization, beyond the scope of authorization, or after the expiration of authorization, downloading or transmitting trade secrets to network storage spaces or electronic devices not under the control of the rights holder;

(5) Other improper means of obtaining trade secrets of the rights holder.

Article 11

Business operators shall not disclose, use, or permit others to use trade secrets obtained by improper means.

“Disclosure” means divulging trade secrets to a third party other than the rights holder, or making trade secrets known to the public so that they are generally known or readily accessible.

“Use” means directly using trade secrets, or using them after modification or improvement, or adjusting or improving relevant production and business activities based on trade secrets.

Article 12

Business operators shall not, in violation of confidentiality obligations or the rights holder’s requirements for maintaining confidentiality, disclose, use, or permit others to use trade secrets in their possession.

Confidentiality obligations or requirements for maintaining trade secrets generally include:
(1) Agreements to maintain trade secrets stipulated in labor contracts, confidentiality agreements, sales contracts, etc.;

(2) Where there is no contractual agreement, but confidentiality obligations arise pursuant to the nature and purpose of the contract, trade practices, business ethics, and the principle of good faith;

(3) Where the rights holder has put forward confidentiality requirements to relevant entities that are aware of trade secrets, including but not limited to entities that become aware of such trade secrets through contractual relationships or by participating in R&D, production, testing, certification, etc.;

(4) Where there is no contractual agreement, but the rights holder has clearly required employees, former employees, or partners to maintain confidentiality through rules, regulations, or reasonable confidentiality measures;

(5) Other circumstances where confidentiality obligations exist or the rights holder has put forward confidentiality requirements.

Article 13

Business operators shall not instigate, induce, or assist others in violating confidentiality obligations or the rights holder’s confidentiality requirements to obtain, disclose, use, or permit others to use trade secrets.

The following circumstances constitute instigation, inducement, or assistance in trade secret infringement:
(1) Encouraging or instructing others to infringe trade secrets expressly or implicitly;
(2) Inducing others to infringe trade secrets through material rewards or non-material rewards such as promises of positions, expressly or implicitly;

(3) Providing funds, technology, equipment, or other facilitative conditions while knowing or having reason to know that others are infringing trade secrets;
(4) Other acts of instigating, inducing, or assisting others in infringing trade secrets.

Article 14

Where natural persons, legal persons, or unincorporated organizations other than business operators commit the illegal acts specified in Articles 10 to 13, they shall be deemed to have infringed trade secrets.

Where a third party, knowing or having reason to know that an employee, former employee, partner, or other entity or individual of the trade secret rights holder has committed illegal acts specified in Articles 10 to 13, still obtains, discloses, uses, or permits others to use the trade secret, it shall be deemed to constitute trade secret infringement.

In determining whether a third party “knew or should have known,” factors such as the confidentiality level of the information, the reasonableness of the acquisition channel and method, the transaction price, the relationship between the third party and the rights holder, and industry practice shall be comprehensively considered.

Article 15

The following acts generally do not constitute trade secret infringement:
(1) Independent discovery or independent development;

(2) Obtaining relevant technical information of a product through disassembly, mapping, analysis, etc., of a product obtained from public channels;

(3) A former employee of the trade secret rights holder using general knowledge, skills, industry experience accumulated during employment, or industry information obtainable from public channels in their work;

(4) Disclosing trade secrets to state organs, statutory institutions performing administrative functions, and their staff in accordance with the law for the purpose of exposing illegal or criminal acts, safeguarding national security, or protecting public interests;
(5) Other acts not constituting trade secret infringement.

Article 16

All organizations and individuals are encouraged, supported, and protected in carrying out social supervision over acts infringing trade secrets. Market regulation authorities shall keep confidential the information of whistleblowers and organizations or individuals assisting in investigating trade secret infringement.

Article 17

Where a rights holder believes that its trade secrets have been infringed, it may report to the market regulation authority.

When filing a report, the rights holder shall provide preliminary evidence materials proving that its commercial information constitutes a trade secret and specific clues indicating suspected infringement, and shall be responsible for the authenticity of the report. The market regulation authority may require supplementation of materials as necessary.

No organization or individual may fabricate facts of trade secret infringement to frame others or commit extortion, nor abuse the right of reporting to disrupt market competition order or market supervision order.

Article 18

Preliminary evidence materials that commercial information constitutes a trade secret generally include:

(1) The formation process and time of the commercial information;
(2) That the commercial information is not known to the public or does not fall under the circumstances listed in Paragraph 2 of Article 6;

(3) The commercial value of the commercial information;

(4) The confidentiality measures taken by the rights holder;

(5) Other evidence materials proving that the commercial information constitutes a trade secret.

The following clues may generally serve as specific clues of suspected trade secret infringement:
(1) Clues indicating that the alleged infringer had channels or opportunities to obtain the trade secret;

(2) Clues indicating that confidentiality measures were undermined by improper means;
(3) Clues indicating that the trade secret has been actually obtained;
(4) Clues indicating that the trade secret has been disclosed, used, or is at risk of disclosure or use;

(5) Other clues indicating trade secret infringement.

Article 19

Upon receiving a report, the market regulation authority shall verify the matter according to law and decide whether to file a case.

A case shall be filed where the following conditions are met:

(1) There is preliminary evidence proving the existence of trade secret infringement subject to administrative penalty;

(2) The case falls within its jurisdiction;

(3) The statutory time limit for administrative penalties has not expired.

Article 20

Alleged infringers, interested parties, and other relevant entities or individuals shall truthfully provide relevant materials or information to the market regulation authority.

Where there is evidence that the information used by the alleged infringer is substantively identical to the trade secret claimed by the rights holder and the alleged infringer had conditions to obtain the trade secret, the market regulation authority may determine that trade secret infringement exists, unless there is evidence proving lawful acquisition or use.

Article 21

Market regulation authorities and their staff shall bear confidentiality obligations regarding trade secrets learned during investigations and shall not illegally disclose, use, or permit others to use such trade secrets.

When publicly disclosing administrative penalty decisions in accordance with the law, content involving trade secrets shall not be disclosed.

Article 22

The rights holder or the alleged infringer may entrust a legally qualified appraisal institution to conduct an appraisal on specialized matters such as whether the information is known to the public or whether the information used by the alleged infringer is substantively identical to that of the rights holder, or entrust a person with specialized knowledge to issue a professional opinion, and submit the appraisal results or professional opinion to the market regulation authority.

Article 23

In investigating suspected trade secret infringement, market regulation authorities may take the following measures:

(1) Enter the business premises where the suspected infringement occurred for inspection;
(2) Question the alleged infringer, interested parties, and other relevant entities or individuals, requiring explanations or provision of relevant materials;

(3) Consult and copy agreements, account books, vouchers, documents, records, business correspondence, and other materials related to the suspected infringement;
(4) Seal up or seize property related to the suspected infringement;

(5) Inquire into bank accounts of business operators suspected of infringement.

Taking the above measures shall require written reporting to and approval by the principal person in charge of the market regulation authority. Measures under Items (4) and (5) shall require written reporting to and approval by the principal person in charge of the market regulation authority at or above the districted city level.

Investigations and requests for assistance shall avoid or minimize impact on normal production and business operations.

Article 24

Where trade secrets are infringed in violation of these Provisions, the market regulation authority at or above the county level shall, in accordance with Article 26 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, order cessation of illegal acts, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine of not less than RMB 100,000 but not more than RMB 1,000,000; where the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than RMB 1,000,000 but not more than RMB 5,000,000 shall be imposed.

Article 25

Where cessation of illegal acts is ordered pursuant to Article 26 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the duration shall generally continue until the relevant commercial information no longer constitutes a trade secret.

Such order generally includes:

(1) Ordering the infringer to cease using the trade secret, unless the rights holder consents otherwise;
(2) Ordering return or destruction of trade secret carriers;

(3) Ordering destruction of infringing products or intermediate products containing trade secrets, unless the rights holder consents to acquisition, sale, or other handling;
(4) Ordering the infringer to eliminate trade secrets obtained;

(5) Other orders to cease infringement.

Article 26

The following circumstances constitute “serious circumstances” under Article 26 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law:

(1) Causing relatively large direct losses to the rights holder;

(2) Causing significant adverse impact on production and business operations;

(3) Endangering national or public interests;

(4) Committing trade secret infringement again within two years after receiving an administrative penalty for such infringement;

(5) Other serious circumstances.

Article 27

Where a violation of these Provisions constitutes a crime, it shall be transferred to judicial authorities for criminal liability in accordance with law.

Article 28

Where commercial information constitutes state secrets, protection shall be governed by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets.

Article 29

Where trade secret infringement is committed outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China, disrupting domestic market competition order and harming the lawful rights and interests of domestic business operators, it shall be handled in accordance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and relevant laws.

Article 30

Where laws or administrative regulations provide that other departments shall supervise and inspect trade secret infringement, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 31

These Provisions shall enter into force on June 1, 2026. The Several Provisions on Prohibiting Infringement of Trade Secrets promulgated by Order No. 41 of the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce on November 23, 1995 shall be repealed simultaneously.