Measures to unleash value of data resources

China will accelerate steps to promote reforms related to the market-oriented allocation of data elements and improve the basic systems and mechanisms for data management, as part of its broader push to foster new quality productive forces and unleash the value of massive data resources, the country's top data governance regulator said on Monday.

Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said that more efforts should be made to accelerate the formulation of policies concerning data property rights, circulation and transaction, revenue distribution and security governance, nurture a nationwide integrated data market, and press ahead with the construction of data infrastructure such as a national computing power network.

The country will ratchet up resources to bolster the development and utilization of public data and enterprise data, expand the application scenarios of data elements in more fields, and strengthen international cooperation in the digital economy domain, in order to cultivate new competitive advantages, Liu said at a news conference hosted by the State Council Information Office in Beijing.

Noting that data has become a new type of production factor, he emphasized the significance of promoting the smooth circulation and efficient allocation of data elements, which play a pivotal role in nurturing new industries, new business models and new growth drivers, and bolstering high-quality economic development.

Liu's remarks came after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. China will build and operate national data infrastructure to promote data sharing, according to the resolution.

The nation will accelerate the establishment of a system for data property rights concerning ownership determination, market transaction, proceeds distribution and interest protection, the resolution said.

Efforts will be made to boost the country's governance and regulatory capabilities in relation to data security, and create an efficient, convenient and secure mechanism for cross-border data flow, it added.

China's total data output reached 32.85 zettabytes in 2023, an increase of 22.4 percent year-on-year, while the added value of core digital economy industries accounted for 10 percent of GDP, according to the National Data Administration.

"Data elements have been rapidly integrated into various areas like production, circulation, consumption and social services, and are playing an increasingly vital role in bolstering industrial upgrades," said Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

The in-depth integration of data with traditional industries will improve production efficiency, optimize the allocation of resources, and create novel business models, he said, while stressing the need to speed up the building of a unified domestic data elements market, explore a data pricing mechanism and value assessment system, ensure data security and strengthen privacy protection.

Jiang Xiaojuan, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that data has permeated all aspects of society, and has an impact on the allocation of social resources and the logic of economic and social operations.

Citing that China — as the world's largest data producer — has unique advantages in facilitating the development of its digital economy, Jiang called for efforts to give full play to the multiplier effects of data elements, create more abundant applications in a wider range of sectors, and promote the sharing, development and utilization of public data.

Statistics from the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center show that revenue derived from China's data elements market is projected to rise to 198.9 billion yuan ($27.3 billion) in 2025, with the compound annual growth rate surpassing 25 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.