Data is valuable. It has become a key driving force for innovation and development in various fields. The replicability of data greatly reduces its marginal cost, and the substantial improvement of computing power in recent years has propelled the rapid development of artificial intelligence and its widespread application.

With data playing an increasingly significant role as a factor of production, China will actively foster the data factor market, support the construction of data exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai, and strengthen the supervision of industry data security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Monday.

The country has made remarkable achievements in promoting the digital economy, digital industry, digital government and digital governance, but there are still many problems to solve in order to accelerate its digital development. During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, the market scale of data acquisition, data storage, data processing and data circulation achieved varying degrees of growth in China. It is necessary to better manage data to maximize its value. Misuse or illegal use of data as well as the monopolizing of data will greatly weaken the vitality of the development of the country's digital economy.

At present, it is difficult to coordinate decision-making across departments, systems and regions. Therefore, different big data management agencies need to enhance their coordination to improve transregional, trans-industry and trans-level data flows.

The cultivation of the data factor market requires coordination between government departments, industries and organizations. Currently, the acquisition of digital resources in China has an unbalanced development structure, and the collection of high-quality data resources through professional and market-oriented transactions is still in its initial stage. Further improving the data factor market mechanisms can enhance the enthusiasm of market participants, reduce data governance costs and produce social and economic benefits by helping the country transition from the demographic dividend and cost dividend to the data dividend and innovation dividend.

Countries around the world are accelerating the activation of the data element market, formulating industrial norms, and promoting the accelerated development of the digital economy. International competition is increasingly fierce in the digital economy and among data elements. Data as a factor of production, whether it is the "Industrial Internet" proposed by the United States, Germany's "Industry 4.0" or Japan's "Value Chain Plan", is viewed as the key to command the strategic heights.

Improving its data market is therefore crucial for China to promote digital, high-quality and safe development, and participate in the global competition.