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China Privacy Law PIPL cross-border transfer route selector

Step-by-step selector for China's data-export exemptions, CAC security assessment, standard contract, and personal information protection certification.

Use the 22 March 2024 rules: test exemptions first, mandatory security assessment second, and the standard contract or certification bands third.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
Jul 5, 2026
Updated
Jul 24, 2026
Sections
3

Structured answer sets in this page tree.

Primary sources
4

Cited legal and guidance references.

Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published Jul 5, 2026
Updated Jul 24, 2026
Overview

Use this order for each data flow: confirm an overseas provision, classify personal information and , determine CIIO status, test the 2024 exemptions, count affected individuals from 1 January of the current year, and select the route. Do not apply the older 2022 security-assessment or 2023 standard-contract volume tests where they conflict with the 2024 provisions.

Section 1

Steps 1-3: flow, data, and exemptions

Step 1: document what leaves China, how the overseas recipient obtains it, and whether the flow contains personal information or . If it contains neither, the 2024 provisions exempt it from security assessment, the standard contract, and certification.

Step 2: determine important-data status. If no department or region has notified the processor or publicly classified the data as , Article 2 says the processor need not declare a security assessment on the basis that it is important data. Record the classification evidence rather than guessing from commercial sensitivity.

  • Step 3A: exempt personal information collected overseas, sent into China for processing, and then provided overseas if no personal information collected in China and no is introduced during China processing.
  • Step 3B: exempt a transfer necessary for the individual's contract, qualifying cross-border HR management, or an emergency protecting life, health, or property. The transfer must be necessary for the stated condition.
  • Step 3C: for a non-CIIO, exempt fewer than 100,000 individuals' personal information provided overseas since 1 January of the current year, excluding sensitive personal information. is not covered.
  • Step 3D: for a processor in a pilot free-trade zone, check the approved negative list. Data outside that list may be exempt from the three mechanisms.
Sources for this answer
Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flow
Articles 2-6 establish important-data treatment and the non-personal-data, overseas-origin, contract, HR, emergency, sub-100,000, and free-trade-zone exemption tests.
Section 2

Steps 4-5: mandatory assessment or intermediate route

Step 4: route any CIIO provision of personal information or to the CAC security assessment. For a non-CIIO, security assessment is mandatory for important data, personal information of at least 1 million individuals excluding sensitive information, or sensitive personal information of at least 10,000 individuals. The personal-information counts run cumulatively from 1 January of the current year.

Step 5: if no exemption or security-assessment trigger applies, a non-CIIO must use either the CAC standard contract or personal information protection certification when it has provided personal information of at least 100,000 but fewer than 1 million individuals excluding sensitive information, or sensitive personal information of fewer than 10,000 individuals. The general sub-100,000 exemption excludes sensitive personal information, so a smaller sensitive-information export still reaches Step 5 unless another exemption applies.

  • Security-assessment output: risk self-assessment, application, proposed legal instrument, other requested materials, and a tracked CAC result. The current result lasts three years, subject to change triggers.
  • Standard-contract output: export PIPIA, the CAC form plus any non-conflicting additional terms, effective contract before export, and filing with the provincial CAC within 10 working days after effectiveness.
  • Certification output: evidence of certification under the applicable CAC rules. The threshold provisions identify certification as an alternative, but this selector does not determine the separate certification procedure.
  • Anti-avoidance check: do not split quantities to route data through the standard contract when security assessment is legally required.
Sources for this answer
Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flow
Articles 7-9 establish current mandatory-assessment and intermediate route bands, current-year counting, three-year validity, and assessment extension.
Measures for Security Assessment of Data Export
Articles 5-14 specify the self-assessment, application materials, legal-instrument content, review process, and reapplication triggers, subject to the 2024 provisions.
Measures for the Standard Contract for Personal Information Export
Articles 4-8 prohibit quantity splitting and specify the export PIPIA, CAC form, effectiveness, 10-working-day filing, and refiling, subject to the 2024 provisions.
Section 3

Step 6: complete PIPL duties and preserve the decision

Mechanism selection is only one part of compliance. For personal information provided overseas, take necessary measures to ensure the overseas recipient meets PIPL's protection standard, give the Article 39 notice, obtain separate consent where required, and complete the Article 55 PIPIA. The 2024 exemptions remove the three route mechanisms, not every underlying PIPL duty.

Recalculate the route when the facts change and at least when the annual count restarts on 1 January. The important triggers include data categories, sensitive status, important-data status, CIIO status, counts, recipient, purpose, method, overseas retention, onward transfer, destination law, or ownership and control. A route conclusion for one flow, recipient, and year does not automatically govern another.

  • Record source, destination, recipient, access method, purpose, data categories, sensitive status, onward transfers, and retention.
  • Record CIIO status, important-data notification or public classification, and the method used to count individuals from 1 January.
  • Keep the exemption or route analysis, PIPIA, Article 39 analysis, recipient safeguards, contract, certification or assessment evidence, filing receipt, owner, approval, and change triggers.
  • Boundary: a final route cannot be chosen from volume alone. CIIO status, , sensitive information, the exact exemption facts, and applicable free-trade-zone rules can change the result.
Sources for this answer
PRC Personal Information Protection Law
Articles 38-40, 55, and 56 establish route conditions, overseas-recipient protection, notice and separate consent, PIPIA, and three-year record retention.
Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flow
Articles 10, 11, and 13 preserve applicable PIPL and security duties and make the 2024 provisions controlling over inconsistent older measures.
Put the requirement into practice

Prepare the PIPL and data export evidence file

Assign an export owner and keep the flow facts, classifications, counts, route decision, filings, approvals, and change triggers together.

Research workflow
Map official sources to evidence

Research Copilot connects the official citation, decision, owner, retained evidence, and change history.

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Talk to Sorena
Review the China route

Check the China Privacy Law scope decision and unresolved launch questions with Sorena.

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Primary sources

References and citations

Measures for Security Assessment of Data Export
cac.gov.cn
Referenced sections
  • Articles 5-14 specify the self-assessment, application materials, legal-instrument content, review process, and reapplication triggers, subject to the 2024 provisions.
PRC Personal Information Protection Law
cac.gov.cn
Referenced sections
  • Articles 38-40, 55, and 56 establish route conditions, overseas-recipient protection, notice and separate consent, PIPIA, and three-year record retention.
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