New data governance regulator unveiled

The National Data Administration was officially unveiled on Wednesday in Beijing, a key step that experts said will speed up the building of basic systems for data, facilitate the development of the digital economy and fully unleash the value of massive data resources.

The new administration is responsible for advancing the development of data-related fundamental institutions, coordinating the integration, sharing, development and application of data resources, and pushing forward the planning and building of a Digital China, the digital economy and a digital society.

It is administered by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang attended the unveiling ceremony of the administration.

China announced plans to establish a new regulator for data governance in March as part of a sweeping government reshuffle. In July, Liu Liehong, former chairman of State-owned telecom giant China Unicom, was appointed head of the new administration.

Mei Hong, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the establishment of the administration will lay a solid foundation for the healthy, orderly and high-quality development of the digital economy and bolster the construction of basic systems for data.

Highlighting that data have become a new type of production factor, Mei said heightened efforts should be made to establish a data elements market, promote the confirmation of data-related rights, and facilitate the circulation and transaction of data resources, so as to give full play to the value of data.

China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan ($6.9 trillion) in 2022, ranking second in the world and accounting for 41.5 percent of the country's GDP, said a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Zhang Li, head of the China Center for Information Industry Development, said, "The new administration will accelerate the innovative application of cutting-edge digital technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain, and bolster the in-depth integration of the digital economy with the real economy."

Zhang said the sharing, circulation, trading and application of data will be key to fostering new economic growth drivers, promoting the country's digital development and further stimulating market vitality.

In February, China rolled out a plan for the overall layout of the country's digital development, vowing to make important progress in the construction of a Digital China by 2025.

The country unveiled 20 key measures in December to build basic systems for data and fully unleash the value of data resources. The basic systems will involve the establishment of a data property rights system, a circulation and trading system, a revenue distribution system and a security governance system.

Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School, said data elements have been rapidly integrated into various areas like production, circulation, consumption and social services.

The establishment of the new regulator for data governance will be conducive to improving the supervision of data elements, promoting the safe and orderly circulation of data and injecting strong momentum into the digital economy, Pan said, adding that it will also help improve the country's data trading mechanism and bring new development opportunities to some basic industries related to big data.

The National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center said the revenue of China's data elements market is projected to rise from 81.5 billion yuan in 2021 to 198.9 billion yuan in 2025.