Are all companies beholden to this or those with legal entities in Europe.
For instance, can a Chinese company with ZERO legal presence in the EU completely ignore these requirements? The internet has no real borders, after-all.
If you process the personal data people in the EU then you have to comply:
Article 3
Territorial scope
1. This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data in the context of the activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the Union, regardless of whether the processing takes place in the Union or not.
2. This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the Union by a controller or processor not established in the Union, where the processing activities are related to:
(a) the offering of goods or services, irrespective of whether a payment of the data subject is required, to such data subjects in the Union; or
(b) the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the Union.
3. This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data by a controller not established in the Union, but in a place where Member State law applies by virtue of public international law.
> can a Chinese company with ZERO legal presence in the EU completely ignore these requirements?
Same with an American company with no legal presence in the EU. However quite a few things require you to establish one. Likewise if you are engaging in B2B activities your European customers will ask you for it.
For instance, can a Chinese company with ZERO legal presence in the EU completely ignore these requirements? The internet has no real borders, after-all.