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Shandong Data Industry Plan: Practical Guide for Foreign Founders

An English-language briefing for foreign founders on Shandong Province's data industry implementation opinion, covering enterprise cultivation targets, clustering, talent, financing, infrastructure and outbound service support, with practical notes for company registration and operations in China.

What Shandong's Data Industry Opinion Means for Foreign Founders

Shandong Province has issued an implementation opinion aimed at accelerating high-quality development of its data industry, building on national requirements to strengthen the role of data as a production factor and of artificial intelligence technologies. For foreign founders considering a China entity — whether a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, a joint venture, or a representative office — the document is a useful map of where provincial support is directed and what kinds of activities local authorities are encouraging.

The opinion is structured around cultivating data enterprises, deepening specific segments of the data value chain, promoting clustering and coordination, linking data with AI and traditional industries, and strengthening supply, talent, finance, infrastructure and outbound services. Below we summarize the operative points and flag practical considerations for foreign-invested companies.

Cultivating and Attracting Data Enterprises

Enterprise cultivation library and targets

The province plans to establish a provincial data enterprise cultivation library, with regular intake across six categories: data resources, data technology, data services, data applications, data security and data infrastructure. A gradient cultivation program will identify and support growth-stage data enterprises, and qualifying firms may access financial services and computing power support under existing 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. These are provincial targets, not guarantees for individual firms.

Conversion of traditional companies and third-party institutions

Traditional data-intensive enterprises, industry leaders and internet platform companies are encouraged to establish independent data business entities through new incorporation or restructuring, creating firms familiar with industry conditions and needs. Traditional enterprises are also encouraged to break down data barriers between production, manufacturing, distribution and sales, and to upgrade into data application enterprises. Law, accounting, audit and asset valuation firms are encouraged to expand into compliance certification, security audit, quality evaluation, asset valuation and risk assessment in the data field.

Investment promotion and landing

Cities are encouraged to refine investment promotion policies for data enterprises, define priority targets based on local industry and data needs, and run targeted promotion activities. Cities may revitalize idle parks and buildings and, through equity contribution or cooperative development, take on data-related business from leading internet companies to help projects land. Foreign founders should note that local investment promotion terms vary by city and should be confirmed directly with the relevant local authority.

Deepening the Data Value Chain

Data annotation and processing

The province will support basic, large-scale data annotation and processing in cities and counties with suitable conditions, including annotation serving artificial intelligence, and will develop intelligent annotation and 4D annotation technologies while improving capability in complex areas such as financial technology and biomedicine. The aim is to move annotation toward technology-intensive, higher value-added segments.

Data resource development

Enterprises are encouraged to increase innovation investment across collection, aggregation, computing and storage, circulation and trading, development and utilization, and security governance. Data enterprises may form innovation consortia with upstream and downstream firms, universities and research institutes, and use provincial key laboratories and technology innovation centers for research and commercialization.

Data asset value-added services

Authorized public data operators will enrich data products and services, and vertical industry data circulation platforms in marine, healthcare and transportation sectors will be strengthened. The province will cultivate data brokerage, data consulting and data custody business, advance data asset confirmation, measurement and disclosure by public institutions and enterprises, and prudently explore data asset operating models such as equity contribution and financing guarantees.

Clustering, Coordination and Dual Empowerment

Clusters and supply chains

Jinan and Qingdao will pilot high-standard data industry cluster zones, and other cities may build smaller, specialized clusters in existing parks and commercial buildings. By 2028, the province targets more than 30 data industry clusters and average annual growth of the data industry of more than 20 percent. The province will also support chain-leading enterprises in connecting data resources across the full chain and will map the provincial data industry and related project and scenario lists.

Data and AI, data and traditional industry

The opinion promotes integration of “data elements ×” and “AI +”, including data-as-a-service, knowledge-as-a-service and model-as-a-service. By 2027, it targets more than 50 high-quality industry datasets in 16 key fields including scientific research and healthcare to support large model training and applications. A “model-data resonance” action will encourage enterprises to develop and apply industry models. Separately, matchmaking activities will connect data products with application scenarios and traditional industry needs, and traditional firms may authorize accumulated data to data enterprises on a market basis and share value-added returns.

Supply, Talent, Finance and Infrastructure

Data supply and talent

The province will expand public data openness, update annual open-data lists, and improve authorized operation mechanisms to supply high-value public data products to data enterprises. Enterprises are encouraged to manage data resources and, subject to classification and protection rules and lawful rights, share data. A chief data officer system will be piloted in qualifying data enterprises. Universities, research institutes and enterprises may jointly build data industry colleges and training bases. By 2028, the province targets support for about 10 key data-related disciplines and about 5 new doctoral and master's programs in the field, alongside digital literacy programs in technical education.

Funding and infrastructure

Provincial fiscal funds will support data enterprises, the data industry and pilot construction, and qualifying key projects may be recommended for central budget investment. Qualifying data enterprises may broaden financing through listing, science and technology innovation bonds, and lawful data asset securitization (ABS), and government investment funds will increase support for data industry projects. Financial institutions are encouraged to innovate products suited to data enterprises under lawful and risk-controlled conditions. On infrastructure, the province will build an integrated computing power service platform, support trusted data infrastructure and trusted data spaces, and run a “Qilu computing interconnection” action with millisecond-level computing access in metropolitan areas, including Jinan and Qingdao.

Outbound services and security

A “Shanhai Jing” outbound integrated service port will provide full-chain public services for data enterprises going abroad. A cross-border data circulation service system, relying on the Qingdao international communications gateway, will offer low-latency, high-bandwidth and secure international data transmission, and explore models such as “inbound data processing” and “token export” on a lawful basis. Cities may pursue national international cooperation pilots in the data field. The opinion also reiterates implementation of the national data classification and grading protection system and security requirements.

Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders

• Choose the right activity code and entity type. Data resources, technology, services, applications, security and infrastructure are treated as distinct categories — align your business scope and registration documents accordingly.
• Check local incentives directly. Investment promotion, park space and computing support are administered by cities and counties; terms are not uniform across Shandong.
• Plan for data compliance. Public data access, enterprise data sharing and cross-border transfer all operate within classification and protection rules; build compliance into your structure from the start.
• Monitor financing channels. Listing, bond issuance and ABS are mentioned as options for qualifying data enterprises, alongside government investment funds.

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

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