China launches state-owned data group to fuel its AI ambitions

China has launched China National Data Group, a centrally administered state-owned enterprise that will develop and supply the country’s data resources to support its artificial intelligence ambitions, Bloomberg reported on October 20.

The company, headquartered in Xiongan New Area in Hebei province about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, is meant to serve as a national platform for cross-industry and cross-regional data flow and sharing, Reuters reported, citing state media.

Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, attended the inauguration and said the group is important for seizing opportunities in AI and strengthening China’s competitive edge.

Market arm alongside the National Data Administration

The new group will focus on market operations and carrying out data resource initiatives, while the National Data Administration, formed in 2023, handles policy design. Ding urged the company to improve data services, expand data infrastructure and make breakthroughs in core technologies, and to play a “strategic, leading and supporting role in the data sector,” according to the State Council.

He also called on government departments to increase support and on local authorities and related companies to provide resources and cooperation to advance China’s data industry. The group will work with other stakeholders to grow the data economy and explore new business models, state broadcaster CCTV said.