“ Manufacturing Powerhouse” China... Now “Big Data Powerhouse”

- The country is running 20 big data administrative agencies, 46 big data industrial complexes, 102 data platforms -

- China will account for one-third of the world's big data in 2025 -

Amid the rapid development of China's big data market, it was argued (some argue) that the government-led big data platform should be accelerated in the future.

According to the “China's Big Data Market Trends and Implications” released on the November 16^th by the Institute for International Trade (President: Choi Yong-min) of the Korea International Trade Association, China's big data market has grown rapidly at an annual average of 35.7 percent since 2016 and this year's market size is expected to reach 8.47 billion dollars. The report also forecast that the total amount of big data would reach 48.6 zettabytes by 2025, accounting for one-third of the world's big data.

China has been promoting the development of big data as a national development strategy since 2015. Currently, the country has 20 provincial big data management administrative agencies including the Big Data Bureau, and 46 big data industrial complexes that enjoy benefits such as taxation and investment attraction. In addition, China is making efforts to create a business-friendly big data ecosystem. 14 major cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, have big data trading platforms that can sell and purchase data in various fields. Including some of them, the country is operating 102 regional administrative data open platforms nationwide.

Along with this, the actual use of big data is rapidly expanding. It is utilized for corporate cloudization, smart factories, and process improvement in manufacturing companies, for personal credit evaluation, fund and risk management, etc. in financial field, for enhancing work efficiency through food and drug management supervision, city security and crime investigation, and administrative data organization and analysis in the government, and for drug development, side effects prediction, and public hygiene  in the medical field. All of them are expected to grow at an annual average of above 20 percent to 2021 from 2016 .

The report stated, “The recent trends in China's big data market are ▲ accelerating the development of 'big data+' convergence, ▲ full-scale integration of new distribution, and ▲ establishment of data protection and standards,” and added, "Caution is required as China is putting the brakes on foreign companies seeking to expand into the Chinese market while accelerating its data control and establishing China-centered standards.”

Park So-young, a senior researcher at the Korea International Trade Association, said, “Companies planning a big data service business in China must develop proactive countermeasures, such as familiarizing themselves with the compliance obligations of data users and clarifying their responsibilities with partner companies,” and added, “In order to develop a new big data convergence industry in Korea, efforts such as the government's initiative to build a big data platform and support the digital integration of companies are required.”