Instead of suffering, foreign businesses will gain from revised anti-espionage act: China Daily editorial

Since the revised Counter-Espionage Law took effect on July 1, an increasing number of foreign businesses operating in China have raised concerns that the law may expand the definition of espionage activities and, as a result, their routine business activities could become suspect in the eyes of law.

Such worries are unnecessary, given that China is a country ruled by law, where the rights and interests of all foreign enterprises and individuals are fully protected so long as they do not breach the country's laws and regulations. Only those who do not understand the revised law or have ulterior motives would suggest that the country's business environment is getting worse because of the implementation of the law.

But despite that, the authorities have been trying to clear the doubts of enterprises and individuals. It's another matter that the misunderstandings and doubts are the result of malicious misinterpretations of the law by some foreign media outlets.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of State Security once again refuted the groundless claim that foreign entities and individuals, especially those in sensitive sectors such as high-tech and research, face increased risks in China due to the revised law.

Rather than being vague and opaque, as some foreign media have claimed it to be, the provisions of the Counter-Espionage Law are transparent, the ministry said on its WeChat account. The ministry also said that China's business environment for foreign companies, instead of becoming worse, has actually improved by, among other things, becoming more law-based, predictable and transparent.

Foreign businesses' confidence in the Chinese market has kept rising, as evidenced in the increase in newly established foreign-invested enterprises this year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, more than 33,000 new foreign entities were established in China in the first eight months, an increase of 33 percent year-on-year. It is hard to imagine market-savvy foreign companies flocking to a country deemed risky.

According to a survey conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in May, 97 percent of foreign companies operating in China said they were satisfied with the country's policy for boosting foreign investment, which was rolled out in the fourth quarter of last year. That more than 70 percent of the respondents in the survey said they would further localize or maintain the status quo speaks volumes of their intention to expand business operations in China.

Espionage compromises a country's national security and hurts its economy. And strengthening laws such as the anti-espionage law is the right of any sovereign country's government. What China has done to safeguard its national interests and security therefore is beyond reproach.