The Chinese law specifies rules similar to attorney-client privilege, which means that an attorney should keep confidential the information provided by his client. But there is an exception that an attorney retained by a criminal suspect should report any criminal act planned by the suspect according to the criminal codes of the PRC. This is a mandatory obligation of every Chinese lawyer.
Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the communication between a client and his attorney be strictly restricted to the information on the case for which the attorney is retained. Otherwise, the attorney will be placed in a dilemma between loyalty to the client and such mandatory obligation.
