(Asian Tech Press) A Beijing-based vice-ministerial agency has recently issued an internal memo requiring its employees not to buy Tesla vehicles, and those who have already done so to transfer to non-civil servants as soon as possible, according to reliable sources.

In fact, as early as March of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that China had banned the use of Tesla cars by public sector employees on the grounds that Tesla's collection of data posed a potential security risk. At the same time, the WSJ also confirmed that people working for state-owned enterprises and other government agencies in China would be banned from driving Tesla.

Previously, Tesla was restricted by military-related departments and some military residences for allegedly collecting data that would pose a risk to national security. Now, departments involving secrecy, including state-owned enterprises, public sector organizations, and administrative agencies, have also begun to ban Tesla, a signal showing the increased attention from the whole country.

In May this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a draft to seek public comments on regulations on car data security, which clearly defines "important data" as follows.

(1) Traffic data of important and sensitive areas such as military administration areas, national defense science and technology industry units involving state secrets, and party and government organs at or above the county level;

(2) Mapping data higher than the accuracy of publicly released national maps;

(3) The operational data of the vehicle charging network;

(4) Data on vehicle types and traffic flow on roads;

(5) Audio and video data outside the vehicle containing faces, voices, license plates, etc;

(6) Other data that may affect national security and public interest as specified by the CAC and the relevant departments of the State Council.

Informed from relevant sources, the relevant units have now issued documents or internal memos to prohibit Tesla cars into the relevant working parks, forbid talking about state affairs in the Tesla cars, and require reporting whether they own a Tesla.

Now, it is also confirmed that Chinese civil servants are prohibited from buying Tesla. Will there be more restrictions on Tesla in the Chinese market next? Will the banned areas be wider? ATP will continue to observe and report on the issue.