China Issues Data Protection Measures for the Healthcare and Medical Industry

Technology development is driving the big data revolution in the healthcare sector in China. The Chinese government sent out clear signals on developing and applying big-data in healthcare and medical treatment back in 2015. However, accessing the medical data maintained by Chinese healthcare institutions and transferring those data outside China by business operators triggered regulatory concerns from a cybersecurity administration perspective. The National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) recently issued a rule to regulate data protection in the healthcare industry.