China prepares bill introducing new online inspection committee

China’s internet regulator has presented a bill that will create a committee to review government policy proposals. The commission can prohibit state bodies from purchasing products over the internet if prior approval has not been granted.

According to China, the commission was created to guarantee national security. It is not yet clear if and when the committee will be established. The proposed rules that form the legal basis of the new government body are available for inspection. The Chinese public has until March 4 to comment on the bill, Reuters reported.

The possible introduction of this new commission is part of a series of measures taken by the Chinese government to gain more control over internet use in China. Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a campaign to ban VPN services that have not been authorized by authorities.

Last November, the Communist Party passed a controversial law, which will come into effect in June 2017. The law further restricts freedom of expression on the internet and confronts service providers with new rules. Part of this law is the obligation for internet service providers to cooperate with authorities’ investigations into crime and national security. The new law also introduces a mandatory testing and certification system for computer equipment.

The Chinese authorities present the law as a ‘cyber security law’, but according to many Western foreign companies it limits innovation. They fear that local Chinese competitors in the IT sector that operate with the certified systems will gain an advantage.