National Data Bureau Forecast: The Future Scale of Data Infrastructure Will Reach About 2 Trillion

　　Data is a new factor of production, a fundamental and strategic resource, and an important productive force. Currently, data, as a key factor of production in the digital economy era, is gradually integrated into all aspects of production and life, profoundly influencing and reshaping economic and social operations and social governance, becoming a key strategic resource affecting future development.

　　On November 23, Liu Liehong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Data Bureau, made important remarks on data infrastructure for the first time during his speech at the Data Element Governance and Marketization Forum of the 2nd Global Digital Trade Expo. According to preliminary industry estimates, data infrastructure will attract about 400 billion yuan in direct investment annually, driving an investment scale of about 2 trillion yuan over the next five years.

　　Director Liu Liehong comprehensively defined data infrastructure for the first time: data infrastructure consists of network facilities, computing power facilities, circulation facilities, and security facilities. These four infrastructures support the entire process of data aggregation, processing, circulation, application, operation, and security assurance from a capability perspective. Data infrastructure clarifies the foundation and construction priorities for the data element market development: construction is carried out across six capability dimensions—data aggregation, data processing, data circulation, data application, data operation, and data security. A research report by Guojin Securities suggests analyzing from three dimensions: supply side of data elements, operation end, and security protection, to select high-quality enterprises with both fundamentals and emerging business models for early layout.

　　What is the digital economy

　　The digital economy refers to an economic form that directly or indirectly uses data to guide resource utilization and promote productivity development.

　　In economics, the digital economy is defined as an economic form in which humans use big data (digitalized knowledge and information) to identify, select, filter, store, and use data to guide and achieve rapid optimization and regeneration of resources, realizing high-quality economic development.

　　The digital economy mainly has two forms: digital industrialization and industrial digitization.

　　Digital industrialization includes industries such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, application software, and the internet. These industries are the foundational industries for developing the digital economy. Driven by 5G, the digital industry is accelerating its development.

　　Industrial digitization uses technologies like 5G and big data to digitally and intelligently upgrade traditional industries. Therefore, industrial digitization is also called the digital economy integration field, with the core goal of improving production efficiency.

　　In recent years, technologies such as the internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain have accelerated innovation and increasingly integrated into all fields and processes of economic and social development. The speed, scope, and depth of digital economy development are unprecedented, gradually becoming an important engine for future global economic growth.

　　Why develop the digital economy

　　1. National level

　　The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party proposed to "accelerate the development of the digital economy, promote deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and build internationally competitive digital industry clusters."

　　In December 2022, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Building a Data Basic System to Better Play the Role of Data Elements" (known as the "Data Twenty Articles"), establishing four systems: data property rights, circulation and trading, income distribution, and security governance, and proposing 20 policy measures.

　　In February this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Overall Layout Plan for Digital China Construction," proposing that by 2025, significant progress will be made in building Digital China, and by 2035, the level of digital development will be among the world's leaders, achieving major accomplishments in Digital China construction.

　　Guided by the national "14th Five-Year Plan for Big Data Industry Development," efforts are made to promote independent technology development, stimulate the potential of data elements, actively promote the application of big data, form high-end supply capabilities for China's big data industry, and promote high-quality development of China's big data industry.

　　2. Industry level

　　Data has become a new type of production factor, playing an increasingly important role in national economic and social development. It is reasonable for a central ministry to manage data as a resource.

　　Currently, China's digital economy has grown very large. In 2022, the scale of the digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 41% of GDP, ranking second in the world by total volume. Such a large-scale digital economy also requires management by a high-level ministry.

　　We are still "large but not strong" in digital economy development, so there is considerable room for improvement in digital infrastructure, digital basic systems, digital development and utilization, and the data industry.

　　How to participate

　　1. Government

　　1. Appropriately advance the construction of data circulation infrastructure and strive for strong national support in funding and policies for data infrastructure layout.

　　2. Actively promote the value release of public data first, leading the development of data elements.

　　3. Encourage the flow of enterprise industrial data and personal data.

　　4. Proactively plan for large AI models. The Public Data Operation Industry Alliance has actively promoted local support work around "computing power, algorithms, and applications" for public data operation and large model development.

　　2. Data merchants

　　1. Top enterprises set standards and strive to participate in national standards. The group standard "Technical Requirements for Public Data Authorization Operation Platforms," promoted by the Public Data Operation Industry Alliance and initiated by the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center, was officially released on November 23. Subsequent applications for national standards are planned, and a series of standards addressing issues in public data operation are also in planning. On December 28, the 2024 Public Data Authorization Operation Trend Report Conference will release the standard preparation plan.

　　2. Integrate into the ecosystem to form synergy and develop collectively. The Public Data Operation Industry Alliance gathers policy experts, practical experts, strong enterprises, and public data operation entities to provide comprehensive support for data merchants entering the market.

　　3. Share the market pie according to each one's strengths. Some companies specialize in data processing, some in data platforms, some in data security, and some in data operation. They focus on excellence, refinement, and optimization to gain a larger professional market.

　　3. Investment

　　1. Investment institutions should focus on companies with core technologies related to the entire process of data element circulation, rather than general IT system integration companies.

　　2. Investment institutions should focus on data product development companies with unique innovative thinking, business models, and data assets.

　　3. Investment institutions should support innovative companies more, incubating more truly valuable companies to go public, rather than using some information to drive up the stock prices of companies with little value, affecting the normal development of the stock market. The Public Data Operation Industry Alliance is incubating a batch of innovative companies and welcomes joint cooperation with investment institutions.

　　4. Individuals

　　1. Individuals can invest in innovative companies, follow investment trends, and exit for profit after listing or a certain period.

　　2. Individuals can participate in market returns by purchasing stocks of listed companies.

　　3. Individuals can enhance their skills and income by studying professional knowledge related to data elements and joining relevant enterprises.

　　4. Individuals can leverage existing resources to collaborate with strong enterprises, support business expansion, and carry out related cooperation. The Public Data Operation Industry Alliance is recruiting city partners, providing opportunities for individuals to participate in the market.