China Issues Three Practical Guidelines on Electronic Product Data Erasure

Chinese regulatory bodies have released three cybersecurity standard practical guidelines to support the rollout of mandatory national standard GB 46864-2025 on electronic product data erasure. Announced during China's 2026 Cybersecurity Week in Jinan, the documents address semiconductor block erasure commands, mobile device sanitization procedures, and logging requirements for consumer electronics recyclers. Developed under the guidance of the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the guidelines aim to standardize end-to-end data destruction across device manufacturing, testing, and secondhand recycling.

Persistent data on discarded or resold electronics has long posed privacy and corporate security risks due to uneven technical standards and fragmented recycling practices. By releasing detailed guidance covering semiconductor-level erase commands, device operating system sanitization, and auditable recycling logs, Chinese authorities are creating verifiable technical protocols across the entire lifecycle of consumer hardware. This clarity provides device manufacturers and refurbishers with concrete compliance benchmarks while reducing user exposure to data leakage.

Chinese authorities have officially issued three cybersecurity standard practical guidelines designed to support the implementation of a mandatory national standard on electronic product data sanitization, official sources announced in mid-September 2026. The guidelines were unveiled at a specialized sub-forum on electronic product information erasure during the 2026 China Cybersecurity Week held in Jinan, Shandong province, according to reports published by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the People's Daily. The release directly supports GB 46864-2025, titled "Data Security Technology — Technical Requirements for Information Erasure of Electronic Products," a mandatory national standard governing data disposal. Under the direction of the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Secretariat of the National Cybersecurity Standardization Technical Committee (TC260) coordinated more than 30 storage chip suppliers, device manufacturers, recycling operators, and third-party institutions to draft the practical frameworks. The three documents target distinct stages of hardware life: semiconductor-level erasure, terminal sanitization, and recycling chain custody. The first document, the "Technical Guidelines for Block Erasure of Semiconductor Storage Media," defines implementation methods and exact operational commands for semiconductor media. It is intended to guide chipmakers and device manufacturers in adapting, invoking, and verifying low-level block erasure instructions. The second document, the "Technical Guidelines for Mobile Smart Terminal Information Erasure," specifies exact procedures, operations, and verification benchmarks for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Beyond guiding product design, testing, and development for consumer electronics makers, the guideline serves as a reference framework for regulatory agencies overseeing telecommunications equipment network access licensing. The third document, the "Management Guidelines for Information Erasure in Electronic Product Recycling," targets secondhand trading and refurbishment. It defines requirements for erasure log formatting, log contents, operational management, and the design and application of standardized erasure certification labels. This document guides recycling businesses in establishing auditable logs and standardizing their operational workflows. All three practical guidelines have been made accessible for industry download on the official TC260 website.