Xi stresses need to build basic data systems and enhance administrative division management

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and head of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, presided over the commission's 26th meeting on Wednesday afternoon. At the meeting, the commission reviewed and adopted a guideline on building the basic systems for data and making better use of data resources, a guideline on improving the work related to administrative divisions, a work plan on trials of reforming the evaluation of scientific and technological personnel, and a work plan on enhancing supervision over large payment platform enterprises and promoting the well-regulated and healthy development of payment and financial technologies.

Xi stressed that the basic systems for data are vital for the development and security of the country. It is necessary to safeguard the country's data security, protect personal information and business secrets, and promote the efficient circulation and use of data so as to empower the real economy. It is also necessary to coordinate the development of data property rights, circulation and transactions of data, distribution of revenues generated from data business, and security management, in a bid to develop the basic systems for data at a faster pace.

We should strengthen the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over the work related to administrative divisions, make overall plans, and avoid blind and disordered practices.

We should follow the laws of scientific and technological innovation and the laws of cultivating talents. With the aim of boosting the creativity of scientific and technological personnel and in accordance with different types of innovative activities, we should establish an evaluation system for scientific and technological personnel. Such system should be based on the values, abilities, and contributions of these personnel's innovative activities, so as to guide them to make full use of their talent and make achievements.

We need to encourage large payment and financial technology platform enterprises to return to their core business, improve supervisory regulations, close institutional loopholes, maintain the security of payment and financial infrastructure, prevent and defuse systemic financial risks, and support platform enterprises in playing a bigger role in serving the real economy and smoothing positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows.

Li Keqiang, Wang Huning, and Han Zheng, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, attended the meeting.

It was pointed out at the meeting that data, as a new factor of production, serves as the basis of digitalization, networking, and smart technologies, and it has been rapidly integrated into production, distribution, circulation, consumption, social service management, and other links, profoundly changing the way of production, life, and social governance. China has advantages in the scale and application of data. We have promoted the introduction of laws and regulations such as the data security law and personal information protection law, actively explored and promoted the application of data in the market, and accelerated the building of a digital economy with data serving as a key element, making encouraging progress in all these aspects.

We should establish a data property rights system to promote the classification and grading of public data, enterprise data, and personal data, define the rights, and ensure authorized use of data. We should establish a property rights operation mechanism in which the right to own data resources, the right to process and use data, and the right to engage in the business of data products are clearly defined, and we should improve the system for protecting the rights and interests of data as a factor of production.

It is necessary to establish a highly efficient and law-based system for data circulation and trading, improve the compliance and regulatory system of rules for the whole process of data, and build a standardized data trading market. We should improve mechanisms for market-based allocation of data, give better play to the government's role in guiding and regulating the distribution of revenues from data resources, and establish a data revenue distribution system that both reflects efficiency and promotes fairness.

We should ensure data security throughout the whole process of data governance, seeing to it that the bottom line of data security is maintained, the line for regulatory responsibilities is clearly drawn, and law enforcement and the administration of justice in key areas are strengthened, so that those areas that must be brought under control are strictly controlled. It is necessary to build a multi-party governance model between the government, enterprises, and society. We should strengthen supervision in different sectors as well as coordinated cross-sector supervision and make sure enterprises assume their responsibilities in guaranteeing data security.

It was stressed at the meeting that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the work on establishing and adjusting administrative divisions across the country has been advanced steadily yet prudently and in an orderly manner in general. The centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over this work should be strengthened, and it is the Central Committee that has the authority to make decisions on the major reforms, policies, and adjustments concerning administrative divisions. Work must be done to strengthen strategic, systematic, and forward-looking research. Research should be organized to work out the overall ideas for planning the division of administrative jurisdictions so as to make it more rational, standardized, and effective and ensure that the division and adjustment of administrative jurisdictions meet the needs of national development strategies, social and economic development, and the development of national defense. Priorities should be given to the inheritance and protection of historical and cultural heritages, the country's experience of setting up administrative divisions in the past must be drawn on, and departments concerned must err on the side of caution when it comes to changing place names, and traditional place names should not be changed arbitrarily. Administrative divisions should be generally kept intact, and changes should never be made unless it's necessary, and with adequate conditions or enough reason that the change will have good results. The standards for administrative division adjustment should be improved, coordination and alignment between the division of administrative jurisdictions and relevant policies, plans, and standards should be strengthened, and the management of administrative divisions should be stepped up in accordance with the law.

It was noted at the meeting that ability and integrity must be taken into account when pilot reform is conducted on the evaluation of scientific and technological personnel. They should be evaluated in accordance with the specific work they are doing, and benchmarks should be different for different categories such as those shouldering national-level major missions of technological breakthroughs, or conducting basic research, applied research, and technological development, or research on social and public welfare projects. Whether evaluation targets need to be reset in conformity with the characters of scientific research activities, methods of evaluation be innovated, and the internal institutions of a concerned unit be improved should be taken into account when trials are made. In this way, effective and feasible measures that can be copied and spread will be developed. Relevant departments and local authorities should strengthen their guide for units in the trials to promote the smooth implementation of the pilot work.

It was stressed at the meeting that payment and all other financial activities of platform enterprises should be subject to supervision in accordance with laws and regulations. With a focus on the real economy, we must ensure that only licensed entities can provide financial services, and we must improve regulations, institutions, and risk prevention and control systems regarding payment, and strengthen supervision that covers all areas, each and every stage, and the whole process.

We will strengthen oversight of financial holding companies and platform enterprises' sharing or holding controlling equities in financial institutions, and improve oversight of online business concerning deposits and loans, insurance, securities, funds, and other activities. We need to protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers, strengthen oversight of platform enterprises to combat monopoly and unfair competition, step up supervision over data scraping of platform enterprises, and regulate the misuse of big data and algorithm-based discrimination.

Relevant departments must take on their oversight responsibilities, and we will improve coordinated oversight efforts between the central and local governments, strengthen supervision of functions, incisive oversight, and sustained oversight, step up supervisory coordination and joint law enforcement, maintain consistent oversight of online and offline activities, and resolutely investigate and prosecute illegal financial activities in accordance with the law.

Members of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform attended the meeting, and leading officials of relevant departments under the CPC Central Committee or the central government were also present at the meeting.