In short: espionage in China can result in anything from three years in prison to life imprisonment, and because the offence is defined broadly, foreign journalists, researchers and businesspeople have landed on the wrong side of it.

What counts as espionage?

China’s Anti-Espionage Law, revised in April 2023 and in force since 1 July 2023, defines “espionage acts” in Article 4. They include joining a spy organisation, accepting a task from one, and — for foreign individuals — gathering, buying or illegally providing state secrets or intelligence, as well as other documents, data and materials that relate to national security and interests. The 2023 revision expressly brought electronic data within scope, which is why ordinary due-diligence or research work can sometimes look like espionage when the underlying material is sensitive.

The penalties

The Criminal Law sets the punishment. Article 110 covers core espionage acts that endanger national security: ten years to life imprisonment, or three to ten years where the circumstances are relatively minor. Article 111 covers stealing, gathering, buying or illegally providing state secrets or intelligence for a foreign organisation, person or agency: five to ten years, rising to ten years to life in especially serious cases, and falling to a maximum of five years where the circumstances are minor. Where conduct is not serious enough to be criminal, the revised Anti-Espionage Law (Articles 54 and 60) allows detention of up to 15 days and fines of up to RMB 50,000.

What this means in practice

Being a foreign national does not exempt you: Chinese courts have jurisdiction over acts committed on Chinese territory, and your embassy can only request consular access — it cannot stop a prosecution. The practical danger is that “state secret” and “national security interest” are moving targets, and a single document or dataset can be reclassified. Early legal representation and careful cooperation often matter more than the facts themselves.

An illustrative scenario

Suppose a foreign consultant is paid by an overseas client to compile a report on a Chinese defence supplier using publicly unavailable information. That scenario is hypothetical, but far from rare, and it could be investigated under Article 111 long before any “secret” is ever proven.

The takeaway: in China, espionage law is no longer a Cold War relic — it is a live risk for anyone gathering non-public information for an overseas party, and the answer is to get legal advice before you are questioned, not after.

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Wang Guan | Co-founder, Beijing Haolue Law Firm | +86 17813108512