China opposes using anti-espionage law to attack its business environment

BEIJING (Reuters) – China opposes any attempt to denigrate or attack its business environment by misreading the country’s counter-espionage law, National People’s Congress (NPC) spokesman Lou Qinjian told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

The revised law did not broaden the scope of espionage activities, but rather it refined the definition of activities and drew a clear line between legal and illegal activities, Lou said.

Last year, lawmakers passed a wide-ranging update to China’s anti-espionage legislation, banning the transfer of any information related to national security, unnerving foreign businesses and investors.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Albee Zhang; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)