Employee Confidentiality Obligations in China

Confidentiality can outlast employment; a non-compete cannot replace it, and vice versa.

Staff who handle customer lists, source code, prices or process know-how should have a written confidentiality duty, access limits, and an exit return of devices and accounts. Unlike a non-compete, this duty does not depend on monthly compensation and is not capped at two years, but it only covers information, not a ban on working for a competitor in itself. To treat the information as a trade secret, you still need reasonable secrecy measures. A commercial NNN with a factory is a different paper from an employee duty. Mass ‘everything is secret’ clauses without marking or access control are weak in a fight.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

What information is actually secret?

Identify categories; do not rely on a one-line ‘all company info’.

Scope

Were secrecy measures real?

Permissions, watermarks, NDAs on the way in, and a clean exit.

Measures

Do you also need a paid non-compete?

Confidentiality will not stop a lawful new job by itself.

Stack

Is this staff or a factory?

Employees vs OEM NNN are different counterparties.

Who

Working rule: Staff who handle customer lists, source code, prices or process know-how should have a written confidentiality duty, access limits, and an exit return of devices and accounts.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal

Ask the operating question

Why it changes the route

No measures

Were files on an open WeCom group?

Trade-secret claims fail without reasonable measures.

Using confidentiality as a fake non-compete

Are you suing just because they joined a competitor?

You need information use, not job title, unless a paid non-compete exists.

Exit was messy

Did they keep a laptop or personal WeChat customer list?

Return and forensic hold should have been on the last day.

Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Duty in writingContract, handbook or standalone confidentiality undertaking.

02Access and markingWho could see the files and how they were labelled.

03Exit certificateDevice, account and document return.

04Use evidenceWhat appeared at the competitor and when.

Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Do we pay for confidentiality like a non-compete?

No monthly compensation is required for a confidentiality duty. Pay is the hallmark of a non-compete. Do not mix the two clauses.

When is a more detailed analysis needed?

No. That page is counterparty NDAs. This page is the employment duty and trade-secret hygiene for staff.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

National laws database (NPC)

PRC Labor Contract Law (gov.cn)

Anti-Unfair Competition Law (gov.cn)

Supreme People’s Court