On August 1, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of Law in the Trial of Labor Dispute Cases (II). The Interpretation states that if an employee is not aware of or exposed to the employer’s trade secrets and confidential matters related to intellectual property, even if an employer and employee have agreed upon a non-compete clause, the non-compete clause will not take effect and will not be binding on the employee. If the employee falls within the scope of the non-compete clause, the scope, region, and duration of the non-compete clause should be commensurate with the trade secrets and confidential matters related to intellectual property that the employee is aware of or exposed to, and any excess will be invalid.

                                                                            Source. https://ipc.court.gov.cn/zh-cn/index.html