---
title: "China wants 100+ \"trusted data spaces\" by 2028 — a new data-infrastructure bet"
date: 2026-10-10
category: Policy & Governance
site: NeuroAI
canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-policy-trusted-data-space-plan
language: en
---

# China wants 100+ "trusted data spaces" by 2028 — a new data-infrastructure bet

> The National Data Administration's 2024–2028 Action Plan for Trusted Data Spaces targets 100+ spaces by 2028 across five types — enterprise, industry, city, personal and cross-border.

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.

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Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-policy-trusted-data-space-plan
Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.