US surveillance policy has become so intrusive that China is now adopting it.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's controversial anti-terrorism law could be passed as soon as the end of this month, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, legislation that has drawn concern in Western capitals for its cyber provisions.
The draft law, which could require technology firms to install "backdoors" in products or to hand over sensitive information such as encryption keys to the government, has also been criticised by some Western business groups.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said that he had raised concern about the law directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The White House and U.S. State Department did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment on the latest development regarding the anti-terrorism law.
Xinhua said the law was having another reading at the latest session of the standing committee for China's largely rubber stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, which ends on Sunday.
Officials at the meeting believe the draft for the law is "already quite mature" and have "suggested" it be put forward for approval, Xinhua said, without elaborating.
The initial draft, published by parliament late last year, requires companies to keep servers and user data within China, supply law enforcement authorities with communications records and censor terrorism-related Internet content.
China has said many Western governments, including the United States, have made similar requests for encryption keys, and Chinese companies operating in the United States had been subject to intense security checks.
