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Cybersecurity
ChinaPolitics

China should promote free movement of digital data, government think tank says

  • Data-related trade set to become a new economic growth driver, deputy director of the Development Research Centre of the State Council says in new study
  • China should seek to forge alliances with Asean countries in setting cross-border data flow standards and policy, report says

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China’s application of big data and AI must be backed by an uninterrupted supply of personal and industrial data, a government report says. Photo: Reuters
Matt Ho
China should encourage the free movement of digital information across borders and consider setting up regional data security pacts with Southeast Asian nations, a government think tank has suggested as part of the country’s plan to boost its digital economy.
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Policymakers should prepare for an explosion of industrial digital data far bigger than the pool of personal information already online, and adopt a regulatory approach that balances cybersecurity with technology-driven growth, the Development Research Centre of the State Council (DRC) said.

The 110-page report, which was released last month, comes as Beijing is looking for new ways to further grow its already rapidly expanding digital economy.

Last weekend, the government published an action plan calling for the establishment of an efficient data market, but existing rules are more focused on requiring internet service operators to keep personal data inside the country.

Long Guoqiang, a deputy director of the DRC, said in the report that data-related trade would become a new economic growth driver and the “safe and orderly flow of data” domestically and across borders would be a prerequisite.

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