A concept photo of digital economy Photo: VCG

China has introduced new regulations on the sharing of government data and improving the country's digital governance and public service delivery. The move is expected to significantly improve government service efficiency and drive socioeconomic development, a Chinese expert said on Wednesday.

Scheduled to come into effect on August 1, the regulations stipulate that government data sharing must follow the principles of coordinated planning, unified standards, legal compliance, rational utilization, and secure and controllable operations. 

The National Data Administration (NDA) said that it will actively implement the new regulations, speed up data development and usage, and support high-quality economic and social development, according to the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday. 

As China's first administrative regulations focusing on the sharing and circulation of government data, this step marks a new stage in government data management, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Standardized and efficient government data sharing serves as a key driver for enhancing the effectiveness of government services and boosting high-quality social and economic development, Wang said.

Wang noted that the regulations play a pivotal role in multiple aspects. They help to promote cross-departmental and cross-level data circulation, enhance collaborative capabilities, and foster an efficient and transparent business environment.

The regulations require that government data should be managed under a unified directory system, clearly defining requirements for the compilation, release, and dynamic update of government data directories. They also prohibit adding unauthorized conditions that hinder or restrict data sharing.

The regulations effectively address long-standing obstacles in government data sharing and provide robust safeguards to ensure data security and standardization, Wang said.

"The optimization of the overall management system will help streamline coordination and promote collaborative governance in government data sharing," Wang said.

The regulations require that an integrated national government affairs big data system will be established, with existing government data platforms to be incorporated into this system. This will help to achieve cross-level, cross-regional, and cross-system data sharing, forming a unified national framework, Wang said.

Regarding data security, the regulations state that in accordance with the principle of "whoever manages is responsible, and whoever uses is responsible," the main body of security responsibilities for each link in data sharing should be clearly defined.

Since 2024, the NDA has released 70 demonstration scenarios for public data, contributing to industrial development, social governance, and livelihood improvement, an official with the administration said, according to Xinhua. 

China's data-driven development has gained momentum since the implementation of the 2024-2026 action plan aimed at promoting the use of data as a factor of production and enhancing its role in driving economic and social development, Xinhua reported.

An increasing number of enterprises are engaging in the data market, Luan Jie, an NDA official, told a news briefing in May. Nearly 500 digital technology companies have been established by central enterprises, and about 66 percent of the leading enterprises across industries in China have purchased data, Luan added, per Xinhua.