Published by ChinaMNC · Xiangyang

Shandong Province Data Industry Development Plan: Key Takeaways for Foreign Founders

Shandong Province has issued implementation opinions to accelerate high-quality development of its data industry, aiming to cultivate data enterprises and integrate data with AI. Foreign founders registering or operating a company in China can learn about the opportunities and support measures outlined for the data sector.

Shandong Province Data Industry Development Plan: Key Takeaways for Foreign Founders

Shandong Province has released implementation opinions to accelerate the high-quality development of its data industry, focusing on strengthening data elements and AI technology, cultivating data enterprises, and expanding the data sector. For foreign founders considering registering a company in China, particularly in the data and technology space, this policy outlines the provincial government's priorities and support mechanisms. Below is a summary of the key measures based on the official document.

1. Cultivating and Attracting Data Enterprises

The province plans to establish a provincial-level cultivation library for data enterprises, covering six categories: data resources, data technology, data services, data applications, data security, and data infrastructure. A gradient cultivation action will identify and support growth-stage data enterprises, which may access financial services and computing power support if eligible. By 2028, the goal is to have over 25,000 data enterprises in the province, including more than 70 listed companies and over 500 unicorn and gazelle enterprises.

Traditional enterprises with dense data resources, industry leaders, and internet platform companies are encouraged to set up independent data business entities through new establishments or restructuring. Traditional third-party institutions such as legal, accounting, auditing, and asset valuation firms are supported to expand into data-related compliance certification, security auditing, quality evaluation, asset valuation, and risk assessment services.

Municipalities are encouraged to improve investment promotion policies for data enterprises, identify key targets, and conduct targeted promotional activities. They can also revitalize idle parks and buildings, and explore equity participation or cooperative construction to undertake data business from leading internet companies.

2. Developing Data Annotation and Processing

The province aims to develop data annotation industries that serve AI, particularly in cities and counties with suitable conditions, to enhance employment absorption. The focus is on high-quality, specialized annotation processing, including intelligent annotation and 4D annotation technologies, and improving capabilities for complex data annotation in fields like financial technology and biomedicine. The goal is to transition the annotation industry toward technology-intensive, high-value-added areas.

3. Advancing Data Resource Development and Asset Value

Enterprises are supported to increase innovation investment in data collection, aggregation, computing storage, circulation and trading, development and utilization, and security governance. Support includes forming innovation consortia with upstream and downstream enterprises, universities, and research institutes for joint technical breakthroughs. The province will utilize provincial key laboratories and technology innovation centers in the data field to accelerate commercialization of data resource development outcomes.

Public data authorized operation agencies are encouraged to enrich data products and services, and vertical industry data circulation service platforms in marine, healthcare, and transportation sectors will be strengthened. The province will improve the data circulation and trading market system, cultivate emerging business forms such as data brokerage, data consulting, and data hosting. Administrative institutions and enterprises are guided to confirm, measure, and disclose data assets. Prudent exploration of data asset operation models like capital contribution and financing guarantees will be conducted.

4. Promoting Industrial Agglomeration and Chain Coordination

High-standard pilot construction of data industry agglomeration zones in Jinan and Qingdao will be advanced. Other cities are encouraged to develop "small but refined" data industry clusters based on existing parks and commercial buildings, focusing on local strengths. By 2028, the province aims to form more than 30 data industry clusters, with an average annual growth rate of over 20% in the data industry scale. Digital empowerment platforms and public service platforms will be built to support cluster development, data collection and aggregation, cross-enterprise circulation and sharing, and collaborative innovation in digital technology.

Chain-leading enterprises are supported to integrate data resources across the entire chain, promote cross-enterprise and cross-industry data applications, and drive collaborative innovation. Leading enterprises are encouraged to provide data and computing power resources to SMEs. The province will draw "one map" of the data industry and "N lists" of projects and scenarios to address weak links and strengthen the chain.

5. Integrating Data with AI and Traditional Industries

The province will deepen the integration of "Data Elements ×" and "AI+", developing new business forms such as Data-as-a-Service, Knowledge-as-a-Service, and Model-as-a-Service. Data enterprises are supported to build high-quality datasets, industry knowledge bases, and evaluation datasets for complex task planning, human-computer interaction, and decision execution, to support AI large model training. By 2027, more than 50 high-quality industry datasets will be built in 16 key fields including scientific research and healthcare. A "Model-Data Resonance" action will explore "data + technology + scenario + capital" approaches, encouraging data enterprises to develop and apply industry large models and scenario-specific models, forming a virtuous cycle of "data trains models, models optimize data."

"Data Encounters" activities will be organized to strengthen supply-demand matching in segmented industries, finding application scenarios for data products and solutions for industry needs. Counties with conditions are supported to explore integration paths for data industry and traditional industry transformation in key sectors like modern agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and urban governance. Traditional enterprises are encouraged to recruit data enterprise "partners" to solve operational bottlenecks using data technology and products. They can also authorize their accumulated data resources to data enterprises in a market-oriented manner, exploring shared value-added benefits.

6. Strengthening Data Supply, Talent, and Funding

Public data openness will be expanded and improved, with annual open lists updated. The authorized operation mechanism for public data resources will be improved to supply high-value public data products and services to data enterprises. Enterprises are guided to strengthen data resource management, and leading enterprises and internet platforms are encouraged to open data under data classification and grading protection requirements and while safeguarding legitimate rights.

A Chief Data Officer system will be implemented in qualified data enterprises. Universities, research institutes, and enterprises are encouraged to jointly build data industry colleges and training bases, focusing on data collection and governance, annotation, analysis, and security. By 2028, about 10 data-related disciplines will be supported in universities, and about 5 new doctoral and master's programs in data fields will be added. Technical education digital literacy programs will be implemented.

Provincial fiscal funds will be coordinated to support data enterprises, the data industry, and related pilot construction. Eligible key data industry projects will be recommended for central budget investment. Data enterprises are supported to expand financing through listing, issuing science and technology innovation bonds, and legally conducting data asset securitization (ABS). Government investment funds will increase support for data industry projects. Science and technology innovation and technical transformation relending policies will be utilized, and financial institutions will be guided to innovate financial products suitable for data enterprises under legal and risk-controllable conditions.

7. Building Infrastructure and Supporting Going Global

The province will accelerate the construction of a provincial integrated computing power service platform and improve the supply-demand matching and service guarantee mechanism for computing resources. Enterprises are supported to build secure and trustworthy data infrastructure based on application scenarios and participate in co-building enterprise, industry, and city trusted data spaces. A "Qi Computing Interconnection" action will promote computing-network integration, providing millisecond-level computing resource network access within metropolitan areas, with special actions in Jinan and Qingdao.

Relying on the "Shan Hai Jing Going Global Comprehensive Service Port," full-chain public services and solutions will be provided for data enterprises going global. A cross-border data circulation service system will be built, leveraging the Qingdao International Communication Business Gateway to provide low-latency, high-bandwidth, and high-security international data transmission services. Under legal compliance, new service models such as "data processing for export" and "token going global" will be explored. Cities are encouraged to promote international cooperation in the data field and seek national pilot programs.

Finally, the province will implement the national data classification and grading protection system and strengthen security protection.

Call to Action: Foreign founders interested in registering or operating a company in China's data sector can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for assistance with company registration and operations.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.