A month after the conviction of Australian citizen Stern Hu for taking kickbacks and stealing trade secrets, China has issued definitions of what constitutes commercial secrets.

The definitions, drawn up for China's hundreds of state-owned firms, are in line with a draft law that requires telecommunications and internet operators to give authorities access to information sent through their networks.

The draft is part of an effort to codify what is a secret in China after the trial of four Rio Tinto employees drew international attention to the country's vague secrets laws.

Regulations on commercial secrets issued by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) were dated March 25, the day after the trial of Rio Tinto's Shanghai-based iron ore managers.

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