China to have national data infrastructure in place by 2029

BEIJING -- China aims to complete building the main structure of a national data infrastructure by 2029, according to the country's top economic planner.

This is part of the country's broader push to build a unified national data market and develop the digital economy, according to a guideline issued Monday by the National Development and Reform Commission and two other authorities.

Developing the national data infrastructure, a new type of infrastructure that supports data collection, aggregation, transmission, processing, circulation, utilization, operation and security, came amid the fast development of digital technologies and infrastructure worldwide.

China's data infrastructure development is still in the early stages, according to the guideline. The country plans to finish the top-level design of a national data infrastructure between 2024 and 2026 and build an infrastructure that supports large-scale data circulation and interconnectivity while fully integrating data networks and computing power facilities between 2027 and 2028.

The country also vowed to upgrade the 5G network to 5G-A level and promote 6G-related research, development and innovation, according to the guideline.

The 5G-A network surpasses the current 5G network in terms of speed, latency, connection scale, and energy consumption. It achieves a peak data rate of 10 gigabits per second for downloads and 1 gigabit per second for uploads, millisecond-level latency, and low-cost connectivity for the Internet of Things.

Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already started offering 5G-A network services in some districts.