Rules set to take effect on May 1 will exclude suppliers of encryption-related products such as firewalls, secure routers or smart cards, from government tenders unless they undergo testing and certification to meet Chinese standards. In some cases, this will require submitting software source codes and other confidential information.
John Neuffer, vice-president for global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, a lobby group, said: “The looming choice for many of our companies is to create costly bifurcated product lines, one for China and one for the rest of the world, or to ponder less ambitious trade and investment choices in that market.”
The Financial Times reported that John Neuffer said: “The foreign high-tech industry wants to continue its win-win partnership with the very important China market. But whether through unique standards or onerous regulatory requirements that veer markedly from global approaches, we are feeling less welcome.”