Qiushi | Liu Liehong: Advanced Data Infrastructure to Build Digital China

In 2023, Beijing created the National Data Administration to coordinate the development, governance, and utilization of data resources across society, elevating data policy to a central pillar of national strategy. As director of the new administration, Liu Liehong now sits at the center of China’s emerging National Data Infrastructure. His article in the Party’s flagship theoretical journal Qiushi / Seeking Truth provides a revealing window into how Beijing views the role of data infrastructure in the next phase of the Digital China strategy.

A translation of Liu Liehong’s “Using Advanced Data Infrastructure to Support the Construction of Digital China” follows below. My summary and analysis of Liu’s essay can be found here.

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Using Advanced Data Infrastructure to Support the Construction of Digital China

以高水平数据基础设施助力数字中国建设

Author: Liu Liehong | 刘烈宏 (Member of the Party Leadership Group of the National Development and Reform Commission; Party Secretary and Director of the National Data Administration | 国家发展和改革委员会党组成员，国家数据局党组书记)

Source: Qiushi | Seeking Truth | 求是, Issue 2026/05

Publication date: March 01, 2026

Translation: This is a lightly-edited DeepL neural machine translation.

Today, the digital economy is increasingly becoming a key force in the reorganization of global factor resources and the reshaping of the global competitive landscape. Accelerating the development of National Data Infrastructure compatible with the development of New Quality Productive Forces is both an effective pathway for our country to overcome bottlenecks in building the data factor market and to unlock the value potential of “data factors,”¹ and a strategic choice for promoting High Quality Development and gaining new advantages in international competition. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to “advance the implementation of the National Big Data Strategy and accelerate the improvement of digital infrastructure.” The Fourth Plenum of the 20th Party Central Committee called for “appropriately advancing the construction of New Type Infrastructure and promoting the development and intensive, efficient utilization of information and communications networks, a National Unified Computing Power Network, and major scientific infrastructure,” as well as “Deeply Advancing the Construction of Digital China.” During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we must anchor our efforts to the goal of the construction of Digital China, accelerate the coordinated deployment of National Data Infrastructure, open the aorta of data circulation, enable the large-scale circulation of data resources, promote the development and application of data, and strengthen data security governance, thereby providing strong support for high-quality economic and social development.

当今世界，数字经济日益成为重组全球要素资源、重塑全球竞争格局的关键力量。加快建设与新质生产力发展相适应的国家数据基础设施，既是我国破解数据要素市场建设瓶颈、激活数据要素价值潜能的有效路径，也是推动高质量发展、赢得国际竞争新优势的战略选择。习近平总书记强调，“推动实施国家大数据战略，加快完善数字基础设施”。党的二十届四中全会提出“适度超前建设新型基础设施，推进信息通信网络、全国一体化算力网、重大科技基础设施等建设和集约高效利用”，“深入推进数字中国建设”。“十五五”时期，我们要锚定数字中国建设目标，加快国家数据基础设施统筹布局，打通数据流通大动脉，畅通数据资源大循环，促进数据应用开发，完善数据安全治理，为经济社会高质量发展提供有力支撑。

1. Why Build and Operate National Data Infrastructure?

一、为什么要建设和运营国家数据基础设施？

As the “new oil” of the digital economy era, data factors have seen the pathways for releasing their value evolve from driving the integration of internal business operations, intelligent upgrading, and digital transformation to enabling a new stage of cross-sector, cross-level, and cross-regional connectivity and shared value creation. Compared with traditional production factors such as land and capital, data possesses distinctive characteristics, including high mobility, non-rival consumption, and integrability. While empowering industrial upgrading and delivering exponential gains in efficiency, data also embodies multiple attributes, including personal privacy, commercial secrets, and public security. This inherent tension means that while data factors can generate significant positive externalities, they also carry non-negligible negative externalities. Practice has shown that the development and utilization of data factors cannot occur without trusted, secure, and controllable infrastructure supported by broad cooperation among stakeholders. Accordingly, building National Data Infrastructure that is coordinated, supports large-scale circulation, enables efficient utilization, and operates within standardized and trusted governance frameworks is not only the key lever for overcoming the “impossible triangle” of data security, compliance, and efficient circulation, but also a critical measure for unlocking the value of data factors, seizing the commanding heights of global competition, and breaking through the bottlenecks that constrain data circulation.

数据要素作为数字经济时代的“石油”，其价值释放路径已从牵引企业内部业务贯通、智改数转，扩展到了跨领域、跨层级、跨地域的普惠网联、价值共创阶段。相较于土地、资本等传统要素，数据具有高流动、非消耗、可融合等特质，在赋能产业跃升、实现效率倍增的同时，也承载着个人隐私、商业秘密、公共安全等多重属性。这一内在张力，决定了数据要素在释放显著正外部性的同时，也隐含着不可忽视的负外部性。实践证明，数据要素的开发利用离不开各方互信、安全可控的基础设施支撑。因此，构建协同联动、规模流通、高效利用、规范可信的国家数据基础设施，不仅是打破数据安全、合规、高效流通“不可能三角”的关键抓手，还是释放数据要素价值、抢占全球竞争制高点、破解数据流通瓶颈的关键举措。

From the perspective of the value development and positioning of data factors, National Data Infrastructure is a New Type Infrastructure aimed at unlocking the value of data factors. It provides society with services for data collection, aggregation, transmission, processing, circulation, utilization, operation, and security, and constitutes an integrated system combining hardware, software, model algorithms, standards and specifications, and institutional mechanisms. From the perspective of the current development of the digital economy, our country’s data factor circulation system still faces several prominent challenges, including multiple technical pathways, non-uniform construction standards, and limited interoperability among infrastructure systems. These issues significantly constrain the release of data value. To address these challenges, it is imperative to build National Data Infrastructure that is horizontally interconnected, vertically integrated, and strongly coordinated, creating a secure and trusted environment for data circulation, fostering new spaces for collaborative value creation from data, and laying a solid foundation for market-based allocation reform of data factors and the construction of a National Unified Data Market.

从数据要素价值发展定位看，国家数据基础设施是以数据要素价值释放为目标，面向社会提供数据采集、汇聚、传输、加工、流通、利用、运营、安全服务的一类新型基础设施，是集成硬件、软件、模型算法、标准规范、机制设计等在内的有机整体。从数字经济发展现状看，我国数据要素流通体系存在技术路线较多、建设标准不统一、基础设施难互联等突出问题，严重制约了数据价值的释放。为破解上述难题，亟须构建横向联通、纵向贯通、协调有力的国家数据基础设施，打造安全可信的数据流通环境，塑造数据价值的共创新空间，为数据要素市场化配置改革、建设全国一体化数据市场夯实基础。

From the perspective of strengthening international competitiveness, economic development depends on infrastructure support, and accelerating the construction of New Type Infrastructure will help our country establish strategic advantages in global competition. In the 1990s, the United States was the first to launch the National Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative,² building internet infrastructure that extended across the globe, establishing a number of core standards and technologies, and fostering many leading technology companies. Today, the digital economy has entered a stage of data-driven deepening, creating a new strategic opportunity for our country to achieve “overtaking on the curve”³ in the data domain. At the same time, we must recognize clearly that our country still faces certain gaps with early-leading countries such as the United States in areas such as control over core technologies and the development of industrial ecosystems in the data sector. Building and operating National Data Infrastructure will help stimulate innovation, cultivate leading enterprises with international competitiveness, and foster an industrial ecosystem that brings together diverse participants involved in “data supply, data use, and data governance.”⁴ It will also help our country seize the initiative in the next round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, effectively transforming the country’s massive data resources and abundant application scenarios into advantages in data innovation and national competitiveness.

从赢得国际竞争力角度看，经济发展离不开基础设施支撑，加快新型基础设施建设有助于我国在全球竞争中确立战略优势。20世纪90年代，美国率先启动国家信息基础设施计划，建设覆盖全球的互联网基础设施，形成一批核心标准与技术，培育出众多科技巨头企业。目前，数字经济进入数据驱动的深化阶段，这为我国在数据领域实现“弯道超车”提供了全新战略机遇。但也要清醒看到，我国在数据领域核心技术掌控、产业生态构建等方面，与美国等先发国家仍存在一定差距。建设和运营国家数据基础设施，有利于激发创新活力，培养具有国际竞争力的龙头企业；有利于形成供数、用数、治数等各类主体汇聚的产业生态；有利于抢占新一轮科技革命和产业变革先机，切实把海量数据和丰富场景转化为数据创新优势和国家竞争力。

From the perspective of addressing practical development challenges, difficulties in finding and using data, cross-domain data processing, and large-scale data circulation have become common problems and pain points across the data sector. Building and operating National Data Infrastructure can provide a low-cost, high-efficiency, and trusted environment for data circulation, alleviating concerns about data misuse or resale and eliminating doubts about unclear data provenance, thereby paving the way for data to be made available. It can also promote the interconnection, interoperability, and coordinated operation of diverse infrastructure systems, breaking down “data islands”⁵ and building bridges that allow data to circulate freely. At the same time, it can create new spaces for collaborative data value creation, serve real business scenarios across thousands of industries, and empower high-quality development across sectors, thereby laying the foundation for data to be used effectively. Finally, it can drive the transformation of data security protection from static to dynamic protection, from perimeter security to intrinsic security, and from protection within closed environments to protection within open environments, forming dynamic security capabilities that span the entire lifecycle of data, thereby safeguarding data security.

从解决发展实际问题出发看，“找数用数难”、“跨域加工难”、“规模流通难”已成为数据领域普遍面临的共性难题和痛点。建设和运营国家数据基础设施，可以提供低成本、高效率、可信赖的流通环境，打消数据被滥用转卖的担忧，消除数据来源不明的顾虑，为数据“供得出”铺路；可以促进各类设施互联互通互操作，打破“数据孤岛”，为数据“流得动”架桥；可以打造数据价值共创的新空间，服务千行百业真实业务场景，赋能各领域高质量发展，为数据“用得好”筑基；可以推动数据安全防护由静态保护向动态保护、由边界安全向内生安全、由封闭环境保护向开放环境保护转变，形成贯穿数据全生命周期各环节的动态安全防护能力，为数据“保安全”护航。

2. How Should We Manage Several Key Relationships in Building Advanced National Data Infrastructure?

二、如何把握高水平构建国家数据基础设施中的几对关系？

Since the beginning of the New Era,⁶ under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the construction of Digital China has made steady and substantive progress. In particular, over the past three years the “Digital China Development Index”⁷ has maintained stable growth of more than 10 percent annually. By the end of 2025, the total number of 5G base stations nationwide had reached 4.838 million, the number of gigabit broadband users had reached 240 million, and China’s total computing capacity ranked second in the world. Building and operating National Data Infrastructure is a “key move”⁸ for further strengthening the foundations of Digital China’s development. In practice, this requires carefully coordinating several important relationships, including top-level design and practical experimentation, high-quality supply and diverse scenario-based demand, technological development and infrastructure construction, and infrastructure deployment and operational optimization, in order to advance the construction of Digital China while improving its “quality and effectiveness.”⁹

新时代以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，数字中国建设迈出坚实步伐。特别是近3年数字中国发展指数保持10%以上的稳步增长，截至2025年底，全国5G基站总数达483.8万个，千兆宽带用户达2.4亿户，算力总规模位于全球第二。 建设和运营国家数据基础设施是进一步夯实数字中国发展基础的关键落子。在实践中，需要统筹好顶层设计与实践探索、高质量供给与多场景需求、技术发展与基础设施建设、建设布局与运营优化等重要关系，推动数字中国建设稳中提质。

We must adhere to the organic integration of top-level design and practical exploration.

National Data Infrastructure is currently in the early stages of development. Combining national strategic needs with local implementation capabilities, and promoting positive interaction between “nationwide coordination”¹⁰ and local “pilot experimentation,”¹¹ will help organically integrate the guiding role of top-level design with the flexibility of practical innovation, thereby shaping a new pattern characterized by vertical coordination and constructive interaction between central and local levels. At the level of “top-level design,”¹² it is necessary to clarify the concept of data infrastructure, its development vision, and its construction objectives, and to systematically design key tasks, technological pathways, and institutional frameworks that guide regions, industries, and sectors in coordinating the construction and operation of data infrastructure. At the level of practical exploration, it is important to fully stimulate “grassroots innovation”¹³ and actively explore diverse application scenarios. This includes identifying and developing a number of representative and demonstrative data infrastructure solutions and model practices, and standardizing and institutionalizing successful experiences so that grassroots experimentation can support the effective implementation of top-level design.

坚持顶层设计与实践探索有机结合。国家数据基础设施正处于起步建设阶段，坚持国家所需与地方所能结合，实现全国“一盘棋”与地方“先行先试”良性互动，有助于将顶层设计的引领性与实践创新的灵活性有机结合，塑造上下贯通、良性互动的崭新格局。在顶层设计层面，要明确数据基础设施的概念、发展愿景和建设目标，体系化设计关键任务、技术路线与制度框架，指导各地区、各行业、各领域协同推进数据基础设施建设和运营。在实践探索层面，要充分激发基层首创活力，结合千姿百态的应用场景需求积极探索，挖掘和打造一批具有代表性、示范性的数据基础设施建设方案和典型实践，将成功经验标准化、制度化，以基层实践助力顶层设计落地。

We must maintain a dynamic balance between high-quality supply and diverse scenario-based demand.

Supply and demand form a dialectical relationship that is both opposing and unified: without application demand, data supply cannot be realized; without high-quality data supply, the data-use needs of industries across the economy cannot be met. On the supply side, the construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure should integrate multi-source data, forming a comprehensive and dynamically updated “National Data Ledger,”¹⁴ and supporting the efficient circulation of data factors across levels of government, regions, systems, departments, and business domains. On the demand side, our country should leverage the advantages of its ultra-large-scale market, focusing on the frontiers of industrial development and key technological breakthroughs. Priority should be given to developing “new-domain and new-track scenarios,”¹⁵ high-value niche scenarios, and cross-regional and cross-sector integrated scenarios. By promoting scenario openness, “pilot testing and validation,”¹⁶ and exploration of business models, supply and demand can be precisely matched and developed in coordination, enabling the allocation of data factor resources to achieve both maximum effectiveness and optimal efficiency.

坚持高质量供给与多场景需求动态适配均衡。供给与需求是既对立又统一的辩证关系，没有应用需求，数据供给就无从实现；没有高质量数据供给，各行各业的用数需求就无法满足。在供给侧，要通过建设运营国家数据基础设施，整合多源数据，形成全面覆盖、动态更新的全国数据“一本账”，支撑跨层级、跨地域、跨系统、跨部门、跨业务的数据要素高效流通。在需求侧，要发挥我国超大规模市场优势，面向产业发展前沿和技术攻关需求，优先布局新领域新赛道场景、高价值小切口场景和跨区域跨领域综合场景，做好场景开放、中试验证、商业模式探索，实现供需精准对接、协同发展，推动数据要素资源配置实现效益最大化和效率最优化。

We must promote the coordinated advancement of data technology development and infrastructure construction.

From the perspective of technological development, major technological breakthroughs typically emerge through continuous iteration and deepening application, ultimately driving the upgrading and restructuring of infrastructure systems. At present, in response to diverse scenarios for data development and utilization, our country has seen the emergence of a number of data technologies and applications. These include privacy-preserving computing technologies that enable data to be “usable without being visible,”¹⁷ blockchain technologies that provide traceability and auditability, “trusted data spaces”¹⁸ that support data resource interaction and collaborative value creation, “data fields (数场) that enable data circulation and utilization across multiple scenarios, data networks (数联网) that facilitate extensive data connectivity, and data components (数据元件) that support the standardized processing and production of data resources,”¹⁹ among others. However, from the perspective of high-level development requirements, our country still faces several challenges in the development and utilization of data, including low computing efficiency, high resource consumption, and elevated operating costs. These limitations are not yet sufficient to support the large-scale secure circulation of data. It is therefore urgent to build, through standardization and coordinated technological innovation, a New Type Infrastructure System capable of supporting efficient allocation in the data factor market.

坚持数据技术发展与基础设施建设协同共进。从技术发展规律看，重大技术突破通过持续迭代与应用深化，最终推动基础设施体系的升级重构。当前，围绕不同的数据开发利用场景，我国涌现出一批数据技术及应用，如可用不可见的隐私保护计算技术，可溯可审计的区块链技术，支持数据资源交互、价值共创的可信数据空间，支持多场景数据流通利用的数场，支持数据广泛连接的数联网，支持数据标准化加工生产的数据元件，等等。但从高水平发展要求看，我国在数据开发利用上尚存在计算效率低、资源消耗大、运行成本高等问题，还不足以支撑数据的大规模安全流通，亟须通过标准化建设与协同攻关构建支撑数据要素市场高效配置的新型基础设施体系。

We must advance both the construction layout and operational optimization of National Data Infrastructure in tandem.

The construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure form an organically integrated system that evolves dynamically, mutually reinforcing one another. Like the birth and growth of a living organism, it must not only be built well, but also grow strong and remain sustainable over time. In the construction phase, National Data Infrastructure should take industry- and regional-level data infrastructure as the primary foundation, with enterprise-level data infrastructure as an important component. Through financing mechanisms such as direct fiscal investment, “special-purpose bond financing”²⁰, and “participation by social capital,”²¹ construction should achieve precise matching of supply and demand and efficient delivery of infrastructure services, enabling data factors to advance from resources to assets²² and realize greater value creation. In the operational phase, development should follow market principles, clearly defining the responsibilities of different actors involved in construction, operation, and oversight. It will also be necessary to explore sustainable operational models and incentive mechanisms for National Data Infrastructure, improve service pricing and fee structures for infrastructure services, and leverage price mechanisms to promote a deeper transformation of National Data Infrastructure, from basic resource connectivity toward value creation.

坚持国家数据基础设施建设布局与运营优化双向发力。国家数据基础设施的建设和运营是互为支撑、动态演进的有机整体，如同生命体的诞生与成长，既要确保“生得好”，更要实现“长得壮”、“活得久”。在建设环节，国家数据基础设施要以行业、区域数据基础设施为主体，以企业数据基础设施为重要组成，通过财政直接投资、专项债券融资、社会资本参与等投融资方式，实现供需精准匹配与便捷交付，推动数据要素从资源到资产的价值转化跃升。在运营环节，要遵循市场规律，明确建设、运营、监督等各类主体责任，探索可持续的国家数据基础设施运营模式和激励机制，完善基础设施服务收费定价机制，利用价格杠杆推动国家数据基础设施实现从资源连通向价值创造的深度跨越。

3. In What Areas Should We Advance the Construction and Operation of National Data Infrastructure?

三、从哪些方面推进国家数据基础设施建设和运营？

Facing new circumstances and new development tasks, the construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure will proceed along several key lines. Strategic direction will be anchored through top-level design; priority initiatives will be implemented through “project-driven deployment;”²³ foundational interoperability will be strengthened through “standards leadership;”²⁴ practical bottlenecks will be addressed through “pilot experimentation;”²⁵ development momentum will be consolidated through “ecosystem collaboration,”²⁶ and international space for development will be expanded through open cooperation. Through these efforts, China aims to build a Modernized Data Factor Circulation System consistent with market principles, accelerate the market-based allocation of data factors, and provide the technological and material foundations necessary for the development of the digital economy and the construction of Digital China.

面对发展新形势新任务，国家数据基础设施的建设和运营将通过顶层设计锚定战略方向，通过项目牵引落实重点布局，通过标准引领夯实互联底座，通过试点探索突破实践瓶颈，通过生态协同凝聚发展合力，通过开放合作拓展国际空间，着力构建符合市场规律的现代化数据要素流通体系，加快推动数据要素市场化进程，努力为数字经济发展和数字中国建设提供技术和物质保障。

Optimizing the strategic planning and layout of National Data Infrastructure.

The Guidelines for the Construction of National Data Infrastructure 国家数据基础设施建设指引 outline a three-step overall approach for advancing data infrastructure development. From 2024 to 2026, over roughly two to three years, various technical pathways will be piloted and tested across selected regions, industries, and sectors, while the top-level design for National Data Infrastructure construction is completed in parallel. From 2027 to 2028, National Data Infrastructure capable of supporting large-scale data circulation and interoperability will be established, achieving basic coverage across China’s large and medium-sized cities. By 2029, the core structure of National Data Infrastructure will be largely completed, and institutional and operational mechanisms for its construction and management will be fundamentally established, ensuring that National Data Infrastructure development remains “aligned”²⁷ with China’s national development strategies. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will accelerate the planning and deployment of National Data Infrastructure. With promoting efficient data circulation and utilization as the central objective, the development of cloud, networks, data, and computing power will be coordinated. Data infrastructure across industries and regions will be deployed in a tiered manner, promoting the integrated connectivity, mutual trust, and mutual recognition of data infrastructure across industries, regions, and enterprises.

优化国家数据基础设施谋篇布局。《国家数据基础设施建设指引》明确了推进数据基础设施建设“三步走”的总体思路：2024—2026年，利用2—3年左右时间，支持部分地方、行业、领域广泛开展各种技术路线试点试验，同步完成国家数据基础设施建设顶层设计；2027—2028年，建成支撑数据规模化流通、互联互通的国家数据基础设施，实现全国大中型城市基本覆盖；到2029年，基本建成国家数据基础设施主体结构，基本建立国家数据基础设施建设和运营体制机制，确保国家数据基础设施建设与国家发展战略同频共振。面向“十五五”，要加快国家数据基础设施建设布局规划，以促进数据高效流通利用为主线，协同推进云网数算协同发展，梯次布局行业、区域数据基础设施建设，推动行业、区域、企业各类数据基础设施一体衔接、互信互认。

Leveraging the driving role of major projects.

The construction of major projects is a powerful instrument for achieving the strategic deployment and efficient operation of data infrastructure.²⁸ Such projects play a critical role in integrating resources, guiding investment, and creating demonstration effects. China should further increase “central fiscal support,”²⁹ raising both the scale and proportion of funding subsidies, with a focus on supporting a group of foundational, public-interest, and strategically significant data infrastructure projects. These projects will in turn drive coordinated efforts by local governments and industry sectors to advance data infrastructure construction, accelerating the development of a convenient and efficient, “independently secure,”³⁰ and internationally leading data infrastructure system. At the same time, regions and government departments should strengthen coordination in planning, funding allocation, and research initiatives, establishing cross-departmental and cross-level mechanisms for coordinated implementation. Meanwhile, China should actively guide social capital to participate in the construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure, accelerating the formation of a development model characterized by “government guidance, market leadership, and multi-stakeholder participation.”³¹

发挥重大项目牵引作用。重大项目建设是实现数据基础设施战略布局和高效运营的有力抓手，对整合资源、引导投入、形成示范具有关键推动作用。要进一步加大中央财政性资金支持力度，提高资金补助额度和比例，重点扶持一批基础性、公益性、战略性的数据基础设施项目，带动地方、行业协同推进数据基础设施建设，加快形成便捷高效、自主安全、国际领先的数据基础设施体系。鼓励各地区各部门在规划布局、资金安排、课题研究等方面加强协同，建立健全跨部门、跨层级的统筹推进机制。同时，积极引导社会资本参与国家数据基础设施建设运营，加快构建政府引导、市场主导、多方共建的发展格局。

Strengthening the development of National Data Infrastructure standards.

At present, China’s work on data standardization remains in an early stage.³² The existing system still faces challenges such as an incomplete architectural framework and insufficient cross-sector coordination. It is therefore necessary to fully leverage the platform and coordinating role of the National Data Standardization Technical Committee,³³ accelerating the introduction and continuous improvement of the Framework for the National Data Infrastructure Standards System. The goal is to establish a comprehensive, well-structured, and prioritized standards system that provides technical guidance to support the secure and efficient circulation of data across National Data Infrastructure. From the perspective of infrastructure construction, priority should be given to developing engineering standards covering technical architecture, overall requirements, and interface specifications, ensuring the standardization and consistency of infrastructure development. From the perspective of operations, standards should be developed for process management, measurement and pricing, and performance management, improving the efficiency and transparency of infrastructure operations. From the perspective of security, standards should be formulated for monitoring and early warning, situational awareness, and emergency response, establishing a comprehensive and multi-layered security protection system.

强化国家数据基础设施标准研制。当前，数据标准化工作处于起步阶段，尚存在体系架构不完善、跨领域协同不足等问题，亟须发挥全国数据标准化技术委员会的平台纽带作用，围绕数据基础设施建设，加快推出并持续完善国家数据基础设施标准体系框架，形成覆盖全面、结构合理、重点突出的标准体系，为实现国家数据基础设施的安全高效流通提供技术指导。建设维度上，重点制定技术架构、总体要求、接口规范等工程建设标准，确保基础设施建设的规范性和一致性。运营维度上，研究制定流程规范、计量计费、绩效管理等运营管理标准，提升基础设施运营的效率和透明度。安全维度上，研究制定监测预警、态势感知、应急响应等安全保护标准，构建全方位、多层次的安全防护体系。

Deepening pilot exploration of National Data Infrastructure.

At present, multiple technological pathways, such as “data fields”³⁴ and trusted data spaces, remain in a stage of parallel exploration and have not yet converged. A considerable gap therefore remains before data infrastructure can be deployed at scale and applied systematically. It is necessary to advance through pilot programs and promote construction through experimentation,³⁵ thereby “opening the key channels of data infrastructure,”³⁶ and enabling coordinated development across the country. Efforts should focus on scientifically linking the two batches of pilot programs, maintaining both continuity and innovation. Pilot projects should be used to test the maturity of technologies, the effectiveness of application scenarios, the applicability of standards, and the compatibility of institutional arrangements. At the same time, it will be important to conduct systematic evaluations of pilot results, select and publicize exemplary cases, and distill replicable and scalable solutions and innovative models. Policy measures and typical practices that prove effective through evaluation should be promptly promoted and applied nationwide. Enterprises and research institutions should also be encouraged to increase research and development investment, accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies for data circulation and utilization, and promote the transformation and dissemination of major technological achievements so that successful innovations generate broader demonstration and spillover effects.

深化国家数据基础设施试点探索。目前，数场、可信数据空间等多条技术路线仍处于并行探索阶段，尚未融合收敛，距离数据基础设施规模化部署、系统化应用还有较大差距，要通过试点先行、以试促建，打通数据基础设施的“任督二脉”，实现全国范围的协同联动。要科学衔接两批试点，保持连续性与创新性，检验技术的成熟性、场景的实效性、标准的适用性、制度的匹配性。要组织先行先试工作成果成效评估，开展典型案例评选，梳理凝练其中可复制、可推广的共性解决方案与创新模式，及时将经过评估验证有效的政策举措和典型案例向全国推广应用。鼓励企业和科研机构加大研发投入，加快数据流通利用关键技术攻关和重大成果转化，强化成果推广，形成辐射带动效应。

Promoting the development of a National Data Infrastructure ecosystem.

The construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure is a complex systems project that requires building broad consensus and mobilizing collective effort. It is therefore necessary to accelerate the creation of an open and innovative ecosystem characterized by government leadership, industry coordination, and enterprise participation.³⁷ Efforts should be made to strengthen the capacity of data infrastructure service providers, support the participation of diverse actors in data product development, technical services, and infrastructure management, and promote technology exchange, resource sharing, and the transformation of research outcomes, thereby fostering a healthy and sustainable market ecosystem. At the same time, full use should be made of the enabling roles of industry associations as “adhesives,” industrial alliances as “connectors,” and professional think tanks as “knowledge hubs.” By leveraging these complementary functions, China aims to generate a strong collective force to advance the construction and operation of National Data Infrastructure.

推动国家数据基础设施生态建设。国家数据基础设施建设和运营是一项复杂的系统工程，需要凝聚各方共识、形成发展合力，加快构建政府主导、行业协同、企业参与的开放创新生态共同体。要壮大数据基础设施服务商力量，支持多元主体参与数据产品开发、技术服务和管理，促进技术交流、资源共享与成果转化，培育可持续发展的良性市场生态。充分发挥行业协会“黏合剂”、产业联盟“连接器”、专业智库“思想库”的多元赋能作用，形成推动数据基础设施建设和运营的强大合力。

Expanding international cooperation on National Data Infrastructure.

Against the backdrop of an accelerating transformation of the global digital governance landscape, advancing international cooperation in the field of data infrastructure has become a strategic choice for addressing shared challenges. Cooperation should be pursued in ways suited to local conditions, leveraging regional advantages and building high-level platforms for international digital economy cooperation. Efforts should focus on expanding international collaboration in areas such as data infrastructure, high-quality datasets and corpora, and computing infrastructure. Local governments and enterprises should be encouraged to innovate new models for cross-border data activity and explore the development of infrastructure supporting cross-border data flows. Focusing on the digital development needs of Belt and Road partner countries and BRICS nations, China should leverage its technological experience to advance cooperation in digital transformation, creating new benchmarks for the integration of the digital and real economies. Free trade zones should be encouraged to make full use of negative lists, develop distinctive data industries, and support China’s digital economic transformation and high-level opening-up. China should also actively participate in the standardization work of international organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). By promoting the adoption of data infrastructure technical standards as international standards, China aims to contribute its experience and expertise to the development of global data infrastructure. At the same time, China should strengthen the development of disciplinary systems related to the digital economy, explore multilateral and bilateral talent training and exchange platforms, facilitate exchanges among educational and research institutions, and build enduring “bridges of cooperation” that support long-term international collaboration.

拓展国家数据基础设施国际合作。在全球数字治理格局加速重构背景下，加快推进数据基础设施领域国际合作，是应对共同挑战的战略选择。要因地制宜推进合作，发挥地方区位优势，高水平建设数字经济国际合作平台，推进数据基础设施、高质量数据集和语料库、算力设施等方面国际合作。积极支持地方、企业创新数据跨境模式，探索数据跨境流动基础设施建设。围绕共建“一带一路”国家、金砖国家数字化场景需要，发挥技术经验优势，推进数字化转型合作，打造“实数融合”新标杆。支持自贸区用好用足负面清单，发展特色数据产业，助力我国经济数字化转型和高水平对外开放。积极参与国际标准化组织（ISO）、国际电工委员会（IEC）、国际电信联盟（ITU）等机构的标准化工作，推动数据基础设施技术标准转化为国际标准，为全球数据基础设施建设贡献中国智慧。加强数字经济相关学科体系建设，探索多双边共建人才培训交流基地，为多双边教育和科研机构人员往来提供便利条件，搭建长期合作的“连心桥”。

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Footnotes

1. Data factors (数据要素), also translated as data elements, are data resources that contribute to production and business activities and help create value. While PRC state-run media prefers “data element,” “data factor” is more accurate. It ties the concept to its historical materialist root as a factor of production, alongside land, labor, capital, and technology. It also avoids a translation collision: both 数据要素 and 数据元件 (data component) are commonly rendered as “data element,” creating unnecessary ambiguity. ↩︎
2. The National Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative referenced here was a major U.S. policy program launched in the 1990s that helped establish the foundations of the modern internet economy. ↩︎
3. “Overtaking on the curve” (弯道超车) refers to leapfrogging competitors during periods of technological transition. ↩︎
4. “Data supply, data use, and data governance” (供数、用数、治数) is a common triad in Chinese data policy. ↩︎
5. “Data islands” (数据孤岛) is a widely used term describing isolated data silos across institutions or systems. ↩︎
6. The “New Era” (新时代) refers to the political period beginning with Xi Jinping assuming power as General Secretary after the 18th Party Congress in 2012. ↩︎
7. The “Digital China Development Index” ( 数字中国发展指数) is the official evaluation index used by Beijing to measure Digital China progress. ↩︎
8. “Key move” (关键落子) is a metaphor derived from Go (围棋) and often appears in Chinese policy writing. ↩︎
9. “Improving its quality and effectiveness“ (稳中提质), literally “enhancing quality while maintaining stability,” is a standard Chinese policy phrase indicating progress with qualitative improvement. ↩︎
10. “Nationwide coordination” (全国“一盘棋”), literally “one chessboard nationwide,” is a common metaphor for coordinated national strategy. ↩︎
11. “Pilot experimentation” (先行先试) is a continuous theme in the article referencing Beijing’s policy model of local experimentation before national rollout. ↩︎
12. “Top-level design” (顶层设计) is a standard translation in Chinese policy discourse referring to centralized strategic planning. ↩︎
13. “Grass roots innovation” (基层首创活力) is often used to describe local-level policy innovation. ↩︎
14. “National Data Ledger” (全国数据“一本账”), literally “one unified national data account,” refers to a comprehensive national data inventory system first referenced in the Guidelines for National Data Infrastructure Construction. ↩︎
15. “New-domain and new-track scenarios” (新领域新赛道场景) is a phrase used in Chinese industrial policy discourse for emerging technological sectors where the competitive landscape is still forming and leadership positions and innovation pathways have not yet been established. ↩︎
16. Ibid 11 ↩︎
17. “Usable without being visible” (可用不可见) is a commonly used description of privacy-preserving computing, for example secure multi-party computation. ↩︎
18. “Trusted data spaces” (可信数据空间) is a concept increasingly discussed in China and internationally, similar to Common European Data Spaces. ↩︎
19. The terms 数场 (data fields), 数联网 (data networks), and 数据元件 (data components) are part of an emerging vocabulary in Chinese data policy. They describe different layers of the technical ecosystem supporting data circulation and utilization, but their exact definitions are still evolving. ↩︎
20. “Special-purpose bond financing” (专项债券融资) refers to local government special bonds (地方专项债) commonly used for infrastructure funding. ↩︎
21. “Participation by social capital” (社会资本参与) is a standard phrase in Chinese policy referring to private or non-government investment. ↩︎
22. “From resources to assets” (资源到资产) is a key concept in China’s data policy discourse, referring to the transformation of raw data into economically valued assets to support the development of the data factor market. ↩︎
23. “Project-driven deployment” (项目牵引) is a common Chinese policy concept referring to major initiatives used to drive implementation of strategic plans. ↩︎
24. “Standards leadership” (标准引领) reflects the importance of technical standards as infrastructure governance tools. ↩︎
25. Ibid 11 ↩︎
26. “Ecosystem collaboration” (生态协同) is a widely used term in Chinese innovation policy referring to coordination across firms, institutions, and sectors. ↩︎
27. “Aligned” (同频共振), literally “vibrate at the same frequency,” referring to policy alignment. ↩︎
28. “Leveraging the driving role of major projects” (重大项目牵引作用) is a common Chinese policy concept where large flagship initiatives are used to drive systemic development. ↩︎
29. “Central fiscal support” (中央财政性资金) refers to funding directly from the central government budget. ↩︎
30. “Independently secure” (自主安全) implies domestic technological control and resilience. ↩︎
31. “Government guidance, market leadership, and multi-stakeholder” (政府引导、市场主导、多方共建) is a standard formulation describing China’s state–market hybrid governance model. ↩︎
32. China places significant emphasis on technical standards as governance instruments. Standards often define the technical architecture and operational rules of emerging infrastructure systems and can shape both domestic markets and international technology ecosystems. ↩︎
33. National Data Standardization Technical Committee (全国数据标准化技术委员会), better know by the abbreviation SAC/TC609, plays a coordinating role in China’s emerging data standards ecosystem. ↩︎
34. Ibid 19 ↩︎
35. Ibid 11 ↩︎
36. “Opening key channels of data infrastructure” (任督二脉) is a reference drawn from traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts, referring to two vital meridians whose activation enables the full circulation of energy. In a policy context it means removing systemic bottlenecks that prevent a system from functioning smoothly. ↩︎
37. In Chinese policy discourse, the term “ecosystem” (生态) often refers to a network of government institutions, firms, research organizations, and intermediary bodies that collectively support the development of an emerging industry or infrastructure system. ↩︎