China to intensify efforts to develop data industry

China will intensify efforts to develop the data industry and give full play to its advantages in large market scale and massive data resources, as part of a broader push to nurture new quality productive forces and build up new growth drivers, the country's top data governance regulator said on Tuesday.

Yu Ying, deputy head of the National Data Administration, said bolstering the development of the data industry serves as an important measure to promote the reforms related to the market-oriented allocation of data elements and accelerate the construction of a digital economy with data as the key element.

Yu said the administration will build a number of pilot data industry clusters in the second half of this year, support and guide regions with conditions to build data industry clusters based on their resource endowments and industrial foundations, and explore diversified paths for the cultivation and development of the data industry.

Accelerated efforts will also be made to build high-quality data sets, so as to promote the application of AI models in a wide range of fields and provide solid data support for the development of new quality productive forces, she added.

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 GDP, according to the NDA.

Yu made the remarks at a news conference regarding the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2025, which will be held in Guiyang, Guizhou province, from Aug 28 to 30.

Yu said this year's expo aims to showcase the latest achievements of the integration and innovation of data elements and artificial intelligence technology comprehensively, promote the efficient aggregation and development and utilization of data resources, and inject strong impetus into industrial transformation and upgrading as well as high-quality economic development.

The event will set up international supply and demand matching and cooperation exhibition areas, fully showcasing digital solutions and experiences, and jointly promoting the innovative development of the global digital economy. More than 20 exchange activities will be held, Yu added.

Specialized exhibition areas such as data infrastructure, data trading and AI will be established during the event, and a series of new policies, typical cases and pilot demonstrations will also be released. A batch of leading tech enterprises such as Huawei, Baidu and the country's three telecom carriers have confirmed their attendance and will bring their latest technologies and products to the expo.

The expo has been held in Guiyang since 2015 and was the first of its kind in China, forming a communication platform for pivotal achievements in the big data industry. Often dubbed China's big data hub, the mountainous province of Guizhou is China's first national big data comprehensive pilot zone. It has been promoting the big data industry as the backbone of its high-quality social and economic development.

Luo Qiang, vice-governor of Guizhou, said the province is accelerating steps to promote the application of AI models across various industries, such as electronic information manufacturing and high-end equipment manufacturing, and is developing the low-altitude economy, intelligent driving vehicles and embodied intelligence.

Luo said the province will make greater efforts to quicken the construction of data centers, intelligent computing centers and computing power infrastructure, while satisfying the rising computing power demand from large model training, animation rendering and esports.