MIIT: There is no ban on VPN services to individuals

China's cyber regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), denied barring domestic telecommunications carriers from providing virtual private networks (VPNs) services to individuals.

An official statement from the subordinate bodies of the MIIT detailing such bans does not exist, and foreign media reports are therefore untrue, the MIIT told domestic news outlet thepaper.cn on Wednesday.

Regulation of VPNs issued in January will not prevent corporations and individuals at home and abroad getting access to a VPN or stop them from carrying out legal business operations, the MIIT said.

According to the January regulation, all basic telecommunication firms and Internet access service providers are barred from setting up or renting special lines (including VPNs) to carry out cross-border operations, unless they are granted approval from authorities.

The rules target companies and individuals that have no approvals from telecommunication regulators and licenses but instead conduct illegal cross-border operations by renting special lines (including VPNs), the MIIT continued. For foreign trade and multinational companies, they can rent special lines from telecommunication operators that legally provide such services, the MIIT said.

Rumors circulating recently claimed that a VPN company named Chuanglian VPN said it was among the first batch of companies in China to have obtained a license from the MIIT to provide VPN services.

The MIIT denied it has given green light to sell VPN services in the country to any company, thepaper.cn reported.