China is building an entire empire on data

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. CHINA’S 1.1BN internet users churn out more data than anyone else on Earth. So does the country’s vast network of facial-recognition cameras.

As autonomous cars speed down roads and flying ones criss-cross the skies, the quality and value of the information flowing from emerging technologies will soar. Yet the volume of data is not the only thing setting China apart. The government is also embedding data management into the economy and national security.

That has implications for China, and holds lessons for democracies. China’s planners see data as a factor of production, alongside labour, capital and land. Xi Jinping, the president, has called data a foundational resource “with a revolutionary impact" on international competition.

The scope of this vision is unparalleled, affecting everything from civil liberties to the profits of internet firms and China’s pursuit of the lead in artificial intelligence. Mr Xi’s vision is being enacted fast. In 2021 China released rules modelled on Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Now it is diverging quickly from Western norms. All levels of government are to marshal the data resources they have. A sweeping project to assess the data piles at state-owned firms is under way.

The idea is to value them as assets, and add them to balance-sheets or trade them on state-run exchanges. On June 3rd the State Council released new rules to compel all levels of government to share data. Another big step is a digital ID, due to be launched on July 15th.