Shanghai to launch more data management and usage polices

Shanghai will release supporting policies for better data usage and management and to reinforce its ambition to become a global digital hub, senior city officials said on Wednesday.

They are part of the Shanghai Data Policy, which took effect this month. They will also be in line with the national laws on data security and personal information and privacy protection, which took effect in November.

Data is a key factor integrating economic development and people's daily life. The policies will push the city's economic development and digital transformation, vice mayor Wu Qing said.

The supporting policies include 37 lines in seven sectors, which will be gradually released in March, June and December.

Highlights of the policies include rating and classifying public data on personal information protection; chief data officer positions will be created in various bureaus and organizations; and low-risk cross-border data flow trial.

The trial will be in the Lingang region in the Pudong New Area, covering sectors on intelligently-connected cars, fintech and industrial Internet.

The policies will also cover digital flow in the Yangtze River Delta region and narrow the "digital gap" to support data applications for the elderly.

Shanghai has unique advantages on data-driven economic development, said Zhang Ying, vice director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information.

Shanghai is home to over 1,000 core data firms with industrial output worth more than 230 billion yuan (US$36 billion) in 2021. It has opened 6,000 categories of public data and has established a modern data exchange and ecosystem, according to the commission.

In December, the Shanghai Data Exchange opened with a complete ecosystem, covering the data trading, auditing, law and IT infrastructure sectors.