Do not take source code, client lists or technical documents when leaving, upload them to personal storage or reuse them at your next job
Code you wrote can belong to the company, and client lists can be trade secrets. Taking them means taking company property. One former employee who reused security-screening source code at a new company received 5 years and RMB 500,000; the new company was fined RMB 4 million. Downloading over 33,000 design files through a vulnerability brought another defendant 1 year 10 months. Civil damages can follow as well.
What it takes
Free. Remove company material from your personal computer and cloud storage before departure. Letting go of files you wrote yourself can be difficult.
What you may gain
Breaching confidentiality by disclosing or using trade secrets carries up to 3 years and/or a fine in serious cases, or 3–10 years plus a fine in particularly serious cases under Chinese law. The Anti-Unfair Competition Law also covers obtaining secrets by electronic intrusion and inducing or assisting another person's breach of confidentiality. Former employees including Sun took security-screening source code and core algorithms into a new company's products; Sun received 5 years and RMB 500,000, and the company RMB 4 million. Tian exploited a system vulnerability to download more than 33,000 design files and received 1 year 10 months plus RMB 100,000. Engineer Yang stored app-module source code on a personal computer and cloud account, then developed a similar app after changing jobs, and was prosecuted for trade-secret infringement.
Context & considerations
See entry 13 on company ownership of work you wrote. Taking it can be taking company property. Client lists are business information that can also qualify as trade secrets. A company can bring a separate civil damages claim in addition to criminal proceedings.
Research & references
National People's Congress of China (2020). Criminal Law incorporating Amendment XI, Article 219. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html; NPC Standing Committee (2025). Anti-Unfair Competition Law, 2025 revision, Article 10. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699862.shtml; Supreme People's Procuratorate (2025). Typical Intellectual Property Protection Cases, case 7. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbh/202504/t20250423_693691.shtml; Supreme People's Procuratorate (2020). Typical Intellectual Property Protection Cases for 2019, case 16. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbh/202004/t20200425_459623.shtml; Supreme People's Procuratorate (2025). Enterprise Data Security Cases, case 5. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbh/202501/t20250124_680670.shtml