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Shandong Province Data Industry Development Plan: Opportunities for Foreign Founders

A practical guide for foreign founders on Shandong's new data industry implementation opinion, covering enterprise cultivation, sector growth, talent, funding, infrastructure, and outbound services.

Shandong Province Data Industry Development Plan: Opportunities for Foreign Founders

Foreign founders looking to establish or expand a data-related business in China should take note of a recent policy document from Shandong Province. The Shandong Provincial People's Government General Office has issued an implementation opinion to accelerate the high-quality development of the data industry, focusing on data as a production factor and the driving role of artificial intelligence (AI). This article summarizes the key measures and targets from the official source, framing them as practical guidance for foreign entrepreneurs.

Enterprise Cultivation and Targets

The policy aims to build a provincial data enterprise cultivation library, covering six categories: data resources, data technology, data services, data applications, data security, and data infrastructure. A gradient cultivation action will identify and support growing data enterprises, with eligible firms receiving financial services and computing power support. By 2028, the province targets more than 25,000 data enterprises, including over 70 listed companies and more than 500 unicorn and gazelle enterprises.

Traditional resource-intensive enterprises, industry leaders, and internet platforms are encouraged to establish independent data business entities through new setups or restructuring. Traditional third-party institutions such as legal, accounting, auditing, and asset appraisal firms are supported to expand into data compliance certification, security auditing, quality evaluation, asset appraisal, and risk assessment, thereby increasing the number of data service enterprises.

Municipalities are encouraged to improve investment promotion policies for data enterprises, identify key targets based on local industrial needs, and conduct targeted promotion activities. They may also revitalize idle parks and buildings, and explore equity participation or cooperative construction to attract data business from leading internet companies.

Data Labeling and Resource Development

The plan supports the development of data labeling and processing industries in qualified cities and counties, focusing on basic and large-scale labeling to serve AI. It also promotes high-quality, specialized labeling, including intelligent labeling and 4D labeling, to enhance capabilities in complex areas like financial technology and biomedical data. The goal is to transform the labeling industry toward technology-intensive and high-value-added segments.

Enterprises are encouraged to increase investment in data technology innovation across key links such as collection, aggregation, computing, storage, circulation, trading, development, utilization, and security governance. Support is given to data enterprises forming innovation consortia with upstream and downstream firms, universities, and research institutes for joint technical breakthroughs. Provincial key laboratories and technology innovation centers in the data field will be built and utilized to accelerate the commercialization of data resource development outcomes.

Data Asset Value and Industry Clusters

Public data authorized operation agencies are supported to enrich data products and services, and to strengthen vertical industry data circulation platforms in marine, healthcare, and transportation sectors. The policy aims to improve the data circulation and trading market system, and cultivate emerging business forms such as data brokerage, data consulting, and data hosting. Administrative institutions and enterprises are guided to carry out data asset confirmation, measurement, and information disclosure. Prudent exploration of data asset operation models such as equity contribution and financing guarantees is encouraged.

High-standard pilot projects for data industry clusters in Jinan and Qingdao will be advanced. Other cities are encouraged to develop "small and refined" data industry clusters based on existing industrial parks and commercial buildings, focusing on distinctive 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 sharing, and collaborative innovation.

Supply Chain Collaboration and AI Integration

Chain leader enterprises are supported to integrate data resources across the entire chain, promote cross-enterprise and cross-industry data applications, and drive collaborative innovation. Leading firms are encouraged to provide data and computing power resources to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to foster coordinated development. Qualified data enterprises can expand their business layout around the full data lifecycle to enhance full-chain service capabilities. 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.

The policy deepens the integration of "Data Element ×" and "AI+" initiatives, promoting 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, empowering AI models and intelligent agents. A "Model-Data Resonance" action will explore a "data + technology + scenario + funding" approach, encouraging data enterprises to develop and apply industry large models and scenario-specific models, creating a virtuous cycle where data trains models and models optimize data.

Traditional Industry Transformation and Data Supply

Activities such as "Data Date" will be organized to strengthen supply-demand matching in segmented industries, finding application scenarios for data products and solutions for industry needs. Qualified counties are supported to explore integrated development paths for data and traditional industries in agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and urban governance. Traditional enterprises are encouraged to recruit data enterprise "partners" to solve operational bottlenecks using data technology and products, building production and operation models with data as a key element. Traditional enterprises may also authorize their accumulated data resources to data enterprises in a market-oriented manner, sharing value-added benefits through collaborative development.

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

Talent, Funding, and Infrastructure

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 professionals in data collection and governance, labeling, 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, and AI general courses will be promoted, with support for technical colleges to offer data-related majors such as IoT application technology and AI technology application.

Provincial fiscal funds will be coordinated to support data enterprises, the data industry, and related pilot projects. Eligible key data industry projects will be recommended for central budget investment. Data enterprises are supported to broaden financing channels through IPOs, science and technology innovation bonds, and data asset securitization (ABS) in compliance with regulations. 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 suited to data enterprises under compliance and risk control.

The province will accelerate the construction of an integrated computing power service platform, improving supply-demand matching and service guarantees to support data enterprises' computing needs. Enterprises are supported to build secure and trustworthy data infrastructure based on application scenarios, and qualified enterprises may participate in building enterprise, industry, and city trusted data spaces, interconnected with provincial trusted data circulation infrastructure. A "Qi Computing Interconnection" action will promote computing-network integration, providing millisecond-level computing resource network access within metropolitan areas, with Jinan and Qingdao piloting "millisecond computing" initiatives.

Outbound Services and Security

Relying on the "Shan Hai Jing Outbound Comprehensive Service Port," the policy provides full-chain public services and solutions 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 re-export" and "token export" will be explored. Cities are encouraged to promote international cooperation in the data field, and qualified cities may seek national pilot projects for international data cooperation.

The policy emphasizes implementing the national data classification and grading protection system and strengthening security related to national security. (The source text is truncated at this point.)

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 expert assistance.

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