China has passed a sweeping law tightening restrictions on internet freedoms, a contentious move that foreign businesses say threatens to shut them out of one of the world’s biggest technology markets.

中国通过了一部全面收紧对互联网自由的限制的法律，外国企业表示，这一争议举动使得它们有被身为世界最大科技市场之一的中国市场排除在外的危险。

Overseas groups have been lobbying Beijing to amend the cyber security law since it was first mooted in 2014 but the final version, which was adopted yesterday, left most of the controversial sections intact.

自《网络安全法》2014年开始起草以来，海外团体一直在游说北京方面修改草案内容。但昨日通过的最终版本显示，大多数争议内容仍原封不动地保留了下来。

Provisions in the new rules, which come into effect next June, require operators of “critical information infrastructure” to store certain personal and business data in China, undergo national security reviews and assist the country’s security agencies.

该法将于明年6月起生效，其中的条款要求“关键信息基础设施”的运营者将特定个人信息和商业数据存储在中国境内、进行国家安全评估并对中国的安全机构予以协助。

Analysts say other clauses could be used to ban foreign technology in communications, encryption and even the internet of things as China develops its own systems, products and algorithms.

分析师称，在中国发展自己的系统、产品和算法之际，该法的其他条款可以用来在通信、加密、甚至物联网领域封禁外国技术。

The American Chamber of Commerce in China said yesterday that the law was “a step backwards for innovation” because it placed restrictions on cross-border data flows and seemed “to emphasise protectionism rather than security”.

中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce)昨日表示，该法“对创新而言是倒退了一步”，因为它对跨境数据流动施加了限制，似乎“着重于贸易保护主义而非安全”。

The broad restrictions “provide no security benefits but will create barriers to Chinese as well as foreign companies operating in industries where data needs to be shared internationally,” Jim Zimmerman, the chamber’s chairman, said in a statement.

这种大范围的限制“并不带来安全方面的好处，却将制造障碍，不仅阻碍在数据需要全球共享的行业中经营的外国企业，也阻碍在这些行业中经营的中国企业，”该商会会长詹姆斯.齐默尔曼(James Zimmerman)在声明中表示。

However, Zhao Zeliang of the Cyberspace Administration of China insisted yesterday that “we are not setting a trade barrier to foreign internet products, neither are we limiting technologies and products from coming into China”.

然而，中国国家互联网信息办公室(Cyberspace Administration of China)的赵泽良昨日坚称，“网络安全法不是要限制国外的技术、产品，也不是要搞贸易壁垒……我们的网络安全法不是要限制国外的技术、产品的进入”。

He said: “The goal of the cyber security law is to protect internet safety [and] national security and protect the interests of the public.”

他说：“制定网络安全法就是要维护网络空间的国家主权，就是要维护网络空间的国家安全，就是要维护公共利益。”

Mr Zhao added that the law was primarily aimed at preventing service providers from illegally obtaining user information or controlling user devices. He said it was aimed at controlling “unequal competition and unlawful profits”.

赵泽良补充称，该法首先是要阻止产品和服务提供者非法获取用户信息或非法控制用户设备。他称该法旨在遏制产品和服务提供者“搞不正当竞争、谋取不正当利益”。

Shen Yi of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University defended the law, saying “there’s no need to exaggerate the requirements on key equipment and security products for foreign companies”.

复旦大学(Fudan University)国际关系与公共事务学院的沈逸为该法辩护称，“没有必要夸大在关键设备和安全产品上对外国企业的要求”。

He highlighted the fact that the regulation on data transfers abroad only applied to “key information infrastructure providers”.

他强调了一个事实，即对向国外传输数据的监管只针对“关键信息基础设施的提供者”。

James McGregor, head of consultancy Apco Worldwide, which works with a number of technology companies, said that much would depend on how the law was interpreted by regulators.

咨询公司安可顾问(APCO Worldwide)大中华区主席麦健陆(James McGregor)称，这很大程度上取决于监管者如何解释该法。安可顾问与多家科技公司有业务联系。

“All laws in China contain vague definitions so regulators have lots of leeway and flexibility in interpretation and implementation,” he explained. “This cyber security law could be viewed as quite threatening to foreign technology companies.”

“中国所有法律都有模糊的定义，所以监管者在解释和执行法律时有很大的空间和灵活度，”他解释称，“这部《网络安全法》可以被视为对外国科技公司具有相当的威胁。”

China’s internet is already subject to the world’s most sophisticated online censorship mechanism, known outside the country as the Great Firewall, but the restrictions proposed by the law go beyond what has previously been banned, according to freedom of speech advocates.

中国互联网已然受制于世界上最复杂的网络审查机制——该机制被国外称为“长城防火墙”(Great Firewall)。但言论自由的拥护者表示，《网络安全法》所提出的那些限制的针对面不止限于之前已禁止的那些东西。

“The already heavily censored internet in China needs more freedom, not less,” Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“中国已然被严格审查的互联网需要更多自由，而不是更少。”人权观察(Human Rights Watch)中国部主任索菲.理查森(Sophie Richardson)在一份声明中表示。

The new law has been causing concern among foreign business for two years as a series of drafts have trickled out. In August, more than 40 industry groups worldwide expressed their fears in a letter to the country’s premier, Li Keqiang.

这部新法在一系列草案一点点公布的过程中，已经让外国企业担心了两年。8月份，全球超过40家行业团体致信中国总理李克强，表达了自己的担忧。