Integrated data market high on agenda

China is studying and formulating policy documents to cultivate a national integrated data market in accordance with new characteristics related to the development of the data market as part of a broader push to fully unleash the value of its massive data resources, said the National Data Administration, the country's top data governance regulator.

More efforts should be made to bolster the development and utilization of public data, and encourage enterprises to innovate by leveraging data to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency, so as to nurture new quality productive forces and empower high-quality economic and social development, said the NDA.

To promote the use of data as a factor of production in more fields and tap the potential of data, the administration is ramping up efforts to compile a guideline on the application scenarios of data elements.

China has issued a three-year action plan to expand the application of data in 12 key fields, including manufacturing, modern agriculture, logistics and financial services.

The country will take steps to promote the high-level application of data, ensure the quality of data supply, improve the environment of data circulation and strengthen data security, said the action plan.

Luan Jie, deputy head of the policy and planning department at the NDA, said nearly 500 digital tech companies have been established by centrally administered State-owned enterprises, and about 66 percent of leading enterprises in various industries have purchased data, adding that the extensive participation of social entities has laid a solid foundation for unleashing the value of data.

Luan said data has been increasingly applied into a diverse range of sectors, such as industry, agriculture and transportation, giving rise to new business forms and models and generating a multiplier effect in boosting the economy.

Looking ahead, the administration will accelerate steps to roll out a guideline on the construction of data infrastructure and establish comprehensive experimental zones for data elements, while strengthening the top-level design of the data market and establishing rules, facilities and governance systems related to a unified national data market to create a fairer and more dynamic market environment.

The nation's total data output reached 41.06 zettabytes last year, up 25 percent year-on-year, while the added value of core industries of the digital economy accounted for about 10 percent of the GDP, said the NDA.

"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, Ouyang said, while stressing the need to bolster the circulation and transaction of data, explore a data pricing mechanism and value assessment system, ensure data security and strengthen privacy protection.

Data have the attributes of commodities, which could be effectively allocated through market evaluation and trading, so as to create huge economic and social value, he said.

Jiang Xiaojuan, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the nation's accelerated push to nurture a national integrated data market and create more abundant applications of data in various sectors is conducive to driving the transformation and upgrade of industries, facilitating the development of digital economy, and giving full play to the value of data to foster new growth drivers.

The National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center said revenue derived from China's data elements market is projected to rise to 198.9 billion yuan ($27.7 billion) in 2025, with the compound annual growth rate surpassing 25 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.