China stepping up efforts to promote competitiveness of data industry

China is leveraging its market size and vast data resources to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic data industry, the head of National Data Bureau (NDB) said at the opening ceremony of the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2024 on Wednesday in Guiyang, Guizhou Province.

The data industry encompasses various aspects such as data collection, processing, circulation, transaction, development, and security.

The NDB, based on extensive preliminary research, is working with relevant departments to develop industry policies, nurture data enterprises, and create a robust industry ecosystem, said Liu Liehong, director of the NDB.

"We are vigorously promoting data development and openness to build an ecosystem where large, medium, and small enterprises integrate in their development and the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain collaborate in innovation. We aim to develop data industry clusters that are collaborative, complementary, distinctive and internationally competitive," said Liu.

The director highlighted various new opportunities seen in the data sector, emphasizing the importance to promote its development.

"We focus on technological advancements and national strategic needs to push for technological breakthroughs in the data sector. By leveraging policies and investments, we support the growth of the data industry. We also encourage industry-academia-research cooperation and accelerate the development of data-related disciplines and the cultivation of talents," said Liu.

According to recent statistics, China currently has over 190,000 data-related enterprises. With ongoing reforms and improvements in data infrastructure, the domestic data industry is expected to grow rapidly, with a projected annual growth rate of over 20 percent in the coming years.

China stepping up efforts to promote competitiveness of data industry

China stepping up efforts to promote competitiveness of data industry

The onshore Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened to below 7.10 against the U.S. dollar in August.

In August, the weighted average rate on new corporate loans registered around 3.6 percent, a decline of over 0.2 percentage points from an already relatively low benchmark in 2023.

This indicates that China has continued to lower the overall financing costs and is encouraging financial institutions to pass on profits to the real economy.

The RMB exchange rate has seen an appreciation. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, has retreated from its peak since August, decreasing from above 104 to below 101, marking a new low in over a year with a decline of about 3 percent.

The onshore RMB exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has strengthened from a high point of 7.27 yuan in mid-July to below 7.10 yuan, a cumulative appreciation of 2 percent.

Cross-border funds continued to flow into the Chinese domestic market, maintaining a net increase trend. In August, overseas investors increased their net holdings of domestic bonds by approximately 17 billion U.S. dollars, marking the 12th consecutive month of net inflows.

Onshore Chinese yuan strengthens against USD in Aug