THE Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) called for improved cross-border security management of big data till 2025, in a five-year plan published yesterday. The plan, which builds off of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan published earlier this year, comes as the country has pushed forward its regulatory framework for data and technology. It re-affirms data as a “factor of production” and a “national strategic resource.” The plan contains six key tasks, including improving the “marketization” of data, improving computing power and playing a leading role in developing global technology standards. It also called for strengthening of management of cross-border data flows and more support for open source initiatives. The scale of China’s big data industry will exceed 3 trillion yuan (US$470.79 billion) by the end of 2025, the MIIT estimated. China implemented two key laws this year — the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law —, which govern how companies and organizations may store and move data. (SD-Agencies) | 