Two companies want to share sensitive design and operations data, but neither will hand the other a raw file. China's data regulator is betting on a new kind of infrastructure to solve exactly that problem.
The document and who issued it
On 23 November 2024, the National Data Administration (国家数据局) released the Action Plan for the Development of Trusted Data Spaces (2024–2028) (可信数据空间发展行动计划(2024—2028年)). It is described as the first national-level forward-looking, systemic layout for this new data-infrastructure concept.
A trusted data space (可信数据空间) is defined as a data-circulation infrastructure built on consensus rules that connects multiple parties to share and use data resources — an application ecosystem for共创 (co-creating) data value, and a key carrier for the national integrated data market (全国一体化数据市场).
The 2028 target
By 2028, the plan aims for:
- trusted-data-space operations, technology, ecosystem, standards and security systems to achieve breakthroughs;
- more than 100 trusted data spaces built;
- a broadly interconnected, resource-rich, ecologically prosperous, value-co-creating and orderly-governed space network;
- markedly higher levels of data development, opening and circulation across fields.
Five types of space
The plan lays out five categories:
- Enterprise spaces (企业) — led by leading firms to share high-quality data with upstream and downstream partners and offer affordable data services to SMEs.
- Industry spaces (行业) — multi-party builds for end-to-end circulation, prioritizing science and technology, agriculture, industry and services.
- City spaces (城市) — led by public data to speed citywide digital transformation and city-cluster integration.
- Personal spaces (个人) — cautiously letting individuals open personal data where conditions mature and rights are protected.
- Cross-border spaces (跨境) — supporting free-trade zones to trial convenient cross-border data mechanisms.
Three major actions
The plan structures its work into three campaigns:
- Capability building — trustworthy control, better resource interaction, and stronger value co-creation as the core capability system.
- Cultivation and promotion — building and promoting the five space types with scenario, model and mechanism innovation.
- Foundation laying (筑基) — key standards, core technology, basic services, standardized management and international cooperation.
Why it is a bet, not a tweak
Most Chinese data policy so far has been about registries, pricing and opening. Trusted data spaces add a technical trust layer: data can be used without being blindly copied, with rules and auditing built in. If it scales, it could unlock sensitive industry and cross-border data that today stays locked. The plan explicitly compares the concept to a global consensus moving from concept to practice.
Honest limitations
The "100+" figure is a policy target in the official release, not a count of existing spaces. The concept is still early; the plan itself notes trusted data spaces are moving from concept popularization to practice promotion. Technical standards and real adoption will determine whether 100+ spaces become substantive or largely pilots. This is a policy summary, not a market forecast.
What readers can do now
- If you run a supply chain, watch enterprise spaces. Leading-firm-led spaces are designed to share data with partners and SMEs — a potential low-friction channel for your own operations data.
- If you handle cross-border data, track FTZ pilots. Cross-border spaces explicitly target free-trade-zone convenience mechanisms; those pilots will define practical rules first.
- Follow the standards work. The foundation campaign includes key standards; early alignment with them reduces rework once spaces interoperate.