UNITED NATIONS — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the six members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), proposed an updated draft of International Code of Conduct for Information Security to the United Nations on Jan 9.

The permanent members of the six states to the UN, in a jointly signed letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, asked him to circulate the updated version of the rules as a formal document of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.

The six countries thus called on nations to further discuss the topic under the UN framework and reach at an early date an agreement on international code of conduct to regulate information and cyberspace activities.

Information and cyber security has been a universal concern of the international community in recent years, with privacy of citizens and national sovereignty being violated on a large scale in the cyber world.

The formulation of international rules to regulate information and cyberspace activities has gained increasing momentum.

In September 2011, China, together with Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, submitted to the 66th session of the UN General Assembly an “International Code of Conduct for Information Security”, which attracted international attention and promoted the formulation process of such norms and rules.

The updated draft rules, which have taken consideration of changes of situation and reasonable suggestions from the international community, are more comprehensive and balanced, said Chinese diplomats here.