New rules to help improve flow of data

Authorities said earlier this week that they would roll out ownership rules this year to facilitate data trading and circulation while optimizing regulations on the flow of data overseas, as a pivotal part of the country's efforts to balance development and security.

The move was outlined at the national data work conference in Beijing, which was held on Monday and Tuesday, and was part of a national drive to bolster the digital economy and create new growth points by upgrading legacy industries with digital technologies.

According to a media release of the meeting, the attendants agreed that this year, the National Data Bureau, which was launched in October, will prioritize building "sound data infrastructure", including a property rights system that will help accelerate data flow and transactions and rules that will determine how benefits accrued from data mining should be distributed.