China Reaches Out To Foreign Firms To Allay Data Law Fears: Report

China’s internet regulator is reportedly trying to ease fears about its latest data law regulations by reaching out to foreign companies.

The regulator has reached out to firms including Walmart Inc WMT and PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL, reported Bloomberg.

The report added that Cyberspace Administration of China officials met executives of dozens of International firms to allay concerns about the new data regime.

The officials provided guidance on rules adherence procedures and acknowledged the difficulties in getting approvals for overseas transfers of sensitive information.

Beijing’s new data rules provide President Xi Jinping’s administration the capacity to fine or shut down companies that are found to mishandle sensitive data.

“Your systems will be blocked in China or you will not be able to carry on transferring Chinese personal data outside of China if you do not comply,” the report quoted Carolyn Bigg, head of DLA Piper’s data privacy and cybersecurity teams in Asia.

This has sparked fears among foreign companies leading to modifications in their operations. Morgan Stanley MS reportedly shifted about 200 of its tech developers out of mainland China.

The government will help Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and the Greater Bay Area to come up with a list of data that can be exported.

Financial institutions, automakers, electronics firms and consumer retailers are among the major multinationals in the country.

Some of the large names include General Motors Company GM, Volkswagen AG VWAGY, Tesla Inc TSLA, Apple Inc AAPL, Starbucks Corp SBUX and Intel Corp INTC.

“It’s hard to face up to the consequence of having to entirely stop data flows and the impact that that has on being able to service your China customers,” said Carolyn Bigg.

Price Action: WMT shares are trading lower by 1.37% at $157.08 on the last check Thursday.