China's State Administration for Market Regulation published Order No. 126, the Trade Secrets Protection Regulation, on February 24, 2026, effective June 1, 2026. It implements the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and defines protectable technical and business information, the 'not generally known' benchmark at the time of suspected infringement, and administrative responsibilities of SAMR and local market regulators. Separately, the 2025 SPC/SPP Interpretation effective April 26, 2025 already classifies unauthorized copying and unauthorized or excessive computer-system access as 'theft' and 'electronic intrusion' in criminal trade secret cases. U.S. companies should use the months before June 1, 2026 to inventory confidential information and document confidentiality measures.
Deadline and legal foundation
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation published Order No. 126, the Trade Secrets Protection Regulation, in the State Council Gazette on February 24, 2026. The regulation was adopted on December 8, 2025 and will take effect on June 1, 2026. It is enacted under the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and states that its purpose is to strengthen trade secret protection and maintain fair market competition.
CNIPA’s 2025 China IP Protection White Paper, released May 7, 2026, reports that the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law took effect in 2025 and that trade secret protection norms were issued intensively. U.S. companies should therefore treat June 1, 2026 as the start of the new administrative compliance period, while noting that the related criminal judicial interpretation has already been in force since April 26, 2025.
What qualifies as a trade secret
Order No. 126 defines a trade secret as technical information or business information that is not generally known to the public, has commercial value, and has been subjected to corresponding confidentiality measures by the rights holder. The regulation applies to operators, defined as natural persons, legal persons and unincorporated organizations engaged in producing or dealing in goods or providing services.
The regulation lists protected technical information as including structures, raw materials, formulas, materials, samples, styles, processes, methods, data, algorithms, computer programs and code. Protected business information includes creative, management, sales, financial, planning, sample, customer information and data. Customer information expressly covers customer names or designations, addresses, contact details, transaction habits, intentions and content.
The 'not generally known' standard and confidentiality measures
Under Order No. 126, the question whether information is not generally known to the public is assessed at the time of the suspected infringement. Information is public if it is general knowledge or industry practice in the relevant field, or if it involves only simple combinations of product dimensions, structures, materials, parts or similar content.
The regulation encourages rights holders to build trade secret protection management systems and to strengthen internal control and compliance for classified elements according to industry characteristics, technical requirements and competitive advantages. It specifically encourages certification, evidence preservation and other innovative forms of protection. U.S. companies should keep records that show confidentiality measures existed before any alleged misappropriation, because the definition requires corresponding measures by the rights holder.
Administrative enforcement and jurisdiction
SAMR is responsible for organizing and guiding national administrative trade secret protection. Local market regulation departments at or above county level are responsible for administrative protection within their areas. For technical secret cases, jurisdiction generally lies with market regulation departments at or above the districted-city level; a county-level department may handle such a case only with SAMR consent and if it has the corresponding enforcement capacity.
Market regulation departments are expected to guide operators through publicity, interpretation and special training. U.S. companies considering an administrative complaint should identify the correct local market regulation department and, for technical secrets, anticipate that the case may be handled at the districted-city level or above unless SAMR approves otherwise.
Related criminal exposure under the 2025 SPC/SPP interpretation
The Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights on April 24, 2025. The interpretation is Fa Shi [2025] No. 5 and took effect on April 26, 2025.
For trade secret cases, the supplied official release states that Article 16 classifies unauthorized copying and unauthorized or excessive computer-system access as 'theft' and 'electronic intrusion.' U.S. companies should review employee and contractor access controls now, because conduct occurring before June 1, 2026 may already be examined under this criminal interpretation.
Pre-June 1, 2026 checklist for U.S. companies
The following decisions and actions can help U.S. companies prepare before the SAMR regulation takes effect.
Inventory technical information under Order No. 126 categories: structures, formulas, methods, algorithms, computer programs, code and data.
Inventory business information, including customer names, contact details, transaction habits, intentions and content.
Document corresponding confidentiality measures before June 1, 2026: access controls, classification, training, certification or evidence preservation records.
Test whether key information may be general knowledge, industry practice, or a simple product-dimension/structure/material/part combination.
Identify the correct administrative enforcement channel; technical secret cases generally belong to districted-city-level or higher market regulation departments.
Audit IT access under the 2025 criminal interpretation: prohibit unauthorized copying and unauthorized or excessive computer-system access.
Limitations and next steps
This guide is based only on the supplied excerpts and summaries of three official sources. The full text of SAMR Order No. 126 was not provided, and the supplied SPC/SPP release does not include the complete threshold table or all elements for criminal trade secret offenses. No official or service fees are stated. This article is general information, not legal advice for a specific matter.
Before June 1, 2026, U.S. companies should obtain and review the complete official gazette text and the full judicial interpretation, consult qualified counsel, and consider preserving evidence of confidentiality measures. Monitor SAMR, CNIPA and court websites for implementing guidance and case examples.