In the News: Bayer Leads Way on Beijing FTZ Data Transfer; Recent Chinese IPO Filings; and China Simplifies Environmental Approval Procedures

First Successful Negative List Filing for Beijing Data Transfers

German multinational healthcare company Bayer Healthcare Company Limited is the first company in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town) to have successfully completed a negative list filing for cross-border data transfer, Media Outreach Newswire reports, making it the first enterprise in the city to achieve compliant cross-border data transfers under the Free Trade Zone's negative list policy.h

The Beijing municipal departments issued the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, List for the Administration of the Cross-Border Transfer of Data (Negative List) (2024 Edition) (中国（北京）自由贸易试验区数据出境管理清单 (负面清单) (2024版) on Aug 30 to relax restrictions for the cross-border transfer of data in Beijing FTZs. The Negative List applies to companies involved in five sectors: automotive, pharmaceutical, civil aviation, retail and modern services, and artificial intelligence (AI) data training. Under these measures, companies can transfer data out of China without going through a transfer mechanism (such as a security assessment), provided the data do not fall under the Negative List.