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Shandong's Data Industry Push: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

A practical briefing for foreign founders on Shandong Province's plan to grow its data industry, covering company cultivation, data labeling, AI integration, funding, infrastructure and outbound services.

Shandong Maps Out a Data Industry Growth Plan

Shandong Provincial authorities have issued an implementation opinion aimed at accelerating high-quality development of the data industry. The document is framed around strengthening the role of data as a production factor and of artificial intelligence technologies, cultivating data enterprises and expanding the provincial data sector. For foreign founders building or registering a company in China, the opinion signals where provincial support, infrastructure and administrative attention are likely to be directed through 2028. Below is a practical summary of the measures as published.

Building a Pipeline of Data Enterprises

Cultivation and targets

The province plans to establish a provincial-level cultivation pool for data enterprises, with routine intake across six categories: data resources, data technology, data services, data applications, data security and data infrastructure. A tiered cultivation program aims to identify and support growth-stage data companies, and qualifying firms are to receive support under financial services and computing power policies. By 2028, the province targets more than 25,000 data enterprises, including more than 70 listed companies and more than 500 unicorn and gazelle enterprises.

Converting and attracting companies

Traditional data-intensive enterprises, industry leaders and internet platform companies with the right conditions are encouraged to set up independent data business entities through new establishment or restructuring. Traditional firms are also encouraged to break down data barriers between production, manufacturing, distribution and sales during digital transformation and upgrade into data application enterprises. Law, accounting, audit and asset valuation firms are encouraged to expand into compliance certification, security auditing, quality evaluation, asset valuation and risk assessment in the data field. Municipalities are encouraged to refine investment promotion policies for data enterprises, reactivate idle parks and buildings, and take on data business from leading internet companies through equity contribution or cooperative development.

Sector Priorities: Labeling, Resources and Assets

Data labeling and processing

The plan supports basic, large-scale data labeling and processing in cities and counties with suitable conditions, with the aim of increasing employment absorption. It also promotes intelligent labeling and 4D labeling technologies and stronger capability in complex labeling for fields such as financial technology and biomedicine, moving the industry toward technology-intensive, higher-value segments.

Data resource development

Enterprises are encouraged to increase innovation investment across collection and aggregation, computing and storage, circulation and trading, development and utilization, and security governance. Support includes innovation consortia with upstream and downstream firms, universities and research institutes, as well as provincial key laboratories and technology innovation centers.

Data asset value

Authorized public data operators are to broaden product and service categories, with vertical industry platforms in marine, healthcare and transportation data to be strengthened. The province aims to develop data brokerage, consulting and custody services, advance data asset confirmation, measurement and disclosure by public institutions and enterprises, and cautiously explore data asset operation models such as equity contribution and financing guarantees.

Clusters, Industrial Chains and AI Integration

Jinan and Qingdao are to pilot high-standard data industry cluster zones, while other cities are encouraged to develop specialized small clusters in existing parks and commercial buildings. By 2028, the province targets more than 30 data industry clusters and average annual growth of more than 20 percent in the data industry. Chain-leading enterprises are supported in connecting data resources across the full chain, and the province plans a single provincial data industry map plus lists of projects and application scenarios.

The opinion also promotes two-way integration between the data industry and AI. It calls for developing data-as-a-service, knowledge-as-a-service and model-as-a-service offerings, and building high-quality datasets, industry knowledge bases and evaluation datasets. By 2027, more than 50 high-quality industry datasets are targeted across 16 key fields including scientific research and healthcare. A "model-data resonance" action encourages data enterprises to develop and apply industry and scenario models. Separately, a matchmaking activity is planned to connect data products with application scenarios and industry needs, and traditional enterprises are encouraged to recruit data enterprises as partners or license accumulated data resources on a market basis with shared value-added returns.

Supply, Talent, Funding and Infrastructure

• Data supply: Expand and improve public data openness with an annually updated list, improve authorized operation mechanisms, and encourage leading and platform enterprises to open data while complying with classification and grading protection rules.
• Talent: Promote chief data officer systems in qualifying enterprises, encourage joint data industry colleges and training bases, and support about 10 key data-related university disciplines and about 5 new doctoral or master's programs by 2028. Technical colleges are supported in offering data-related majors.
• Funding: Coordinate provincial fiscal funds, recommend qualifying projects for central budget investment, and support listing, science and technology innovation bonds and data asset securitization. Government investment funds are to increase support, and financial institutions are encouraged to develop products suited to data enterprises.
• Infrastructure: Build an integrated provincial computing power service platform, support trusted data infrastructure and trusted data spaces, and run a computing-network integration action providing millisecond-level network access within city domains, with Jinan and Qingdao piloting millisecond computing use.

Going Global and Security

An outbound service system is planned around the "Shan Hai Jing" comprehensive service port, providing public services and solutions for data enterprises expanding overseas. A cross-border data circulation service system would rely on the Qingdao international communications business gateway to offer low-latency, high-bandwidth and high-security international data transmission, and to explore models such as "inbound data processing" and "token export" where legally compliant. Cities are encouraged to pursue international cooperation and national pilot programs in the data field. The opinion also stresses implementation of the national data classification and grading protection system and stronger security safeguards.

What This Means for Foreign Founders

For foreign founders assessing where to register or expand a China company, Shandong's plan points to opportunities in data services, labeling, industry datasets and AI applications, backed by stated provincial support for computing power, finance and talent. Founders should note that many measures are directed at provincial coordination and pilot programs, and eligibility for specific incentives will depend on implementing rules and local authorities. Practical steps include identifying the relevant city and park, clarifying the data category of the proposed business, and confirming compliance obligations for data handling and cross-border transfer.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Call to action: Foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.