A new regulation entitles Chinese investigators in criminal cases to retrieve and freeze electronic data as evidence, according to an official statement on Tuesday.

The regulation allows courts, procuratorates and police authorities to retrieve electronic data from individuals and organizations implicated in criminal cases.

When the data faces a threat of being tampered with or destroyed, law enforcement agencies can authorize freezing measures, including confiscating and sealing up the hardware where the original data was stored, producing and sealing up duplicates of the data, and videotaping the retrieving activities.

"Electronic data as evidence" refers to data stored, transmitted in digital form or created during criminal activity.