en.Wedoany.com Reported - The 2026 Global Digital Cooperation Exchange Conference and Tech Week Shanghai Global Data Week event opened on May 6 in Pudong, Shanghai. On the first day of the conference, the Shanghai Comprehensive Pilot for International Cooperation in the National Data Sector was officially launched. Shanghai has become the first city among the initial batch of pilot cities for international cooperation in the data sector designated by the National Data Administration to initiate the program. The pilot focuses on six major areas and 17 specific tasks, aiming to build a working framework by 2030 featuring a "new high-standard foundation for cross-border data, a new high-quality system for mutual recognition of rules, a new high-level carrier for international cooperation, and a new highly synergistic ecosystem for outbound services."
Song Xianrong, Head of the International Data Governance Cooperation Department of the National Data Administration, pointed out that Shanghai will deepen exploration in areas such as cross-border facilities, institutional innovation, rule alignment, and scenario opening, based on practical international cooperation in the digital economy. Yu Ying, Deputy Director of the National Data Administration, provided a more specific strategic intent in her speech: "Recently, the National Data Administration has laid out pilot programs for international cooperation in the data sector. Shanghai has taken the lead in launching and has formed a clear implementation plan. We hope that through this pilot, global enterprises will be attracted to participate in the marketization and value realization process of China's data factors, sharing the opportunities of data development with China."
Reviewing the list of 17 specific tasks, four strategic pillars emerge. At the data infrastructure level, Shanghai clearly plans to deploy service infrastructure for cross-border data flow that is interconnected, secure, and open. Building on existing international data centers and blockchain networks, it will advance the construction of international networks, cross-border storage and computing, and "headquarters-to-headquarters" cross-border data service facilities. At the institutional opening-up level, the negative list for data export in the Comprehensive Pilot Area for Expanding the Opening-up of the National Service Industry (Shanghai) has already expanded its coverage from the Free Trade Zone to the entire city. Shanghai will also continue to promote digital rule dialogues and project cooperation with Hong Kong, Singapore, and more cities. In terms of international cooperation carriers, areas such as Lingang, Pudong, and Hongqiao will take the lead in building high-level international data cooperation demonstration zones, and cultivate digital outbound service clusters in fields like fintech, digital technology, digital content, and data compliance.
The Lingang International Data Port has already built a solid platform foundation for this round of pilot programs. As early as 2025, the Lingang New Area released the "Implementation Plan for the International Data Economy Industrial Park," explicitly proposing to build a domestically leading functional data platform and a batch of demonstrative data cooperation scenarios by 2027. The International Data Port has already laid out core infrastructure such as new international submarine optical cables, functional data centers, and offshore data spaces. This pilot program incorporates these existing capabilities into the national framework, achieving an upgrade from "local pioneering trials" to "national-level pilot promotion."
Zhang Ying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, stated at the opening ceremony that Shanghai will further amplify its advantage of linking domestic and international markets and resources, promote the implementation of more high-value applications, and jointly foster an open, innovative, and inclusive digital cooperation ecosystem.
The decision to expand the negative list for data export from the Free Trade Zone to the entire city essentially promotes the cross-border data flow management mechanism, previously validated in the Lingang New Area, to qualified enterprises across Shanghai. This enables more multinational companies and local outbound enterprises to achieve efficient cross-border data utilization within a compliance framework. Shanghai-Hong Kong data cooperation represents the most operational regional collaboration entry point in this pilot. Hong Kong possesses differentiated capabilities in fintech, legal systems, and international data intermediary services, complementing Shanghai's strengths in industrial digitalization and scenario supply. This pilot explicitly incorporates the Shanghai-Hong Kong digital rule dialogue into the formal promotion framework, and the two locations are expected to take the lead in exploring cross-border data mutual recognition mechanisms. During the event, the "Global Digital Enterprise Service Ecosystem Co-consultation, Co-development, and Sharing Cooperation Initiative" was jointly released by representatives from international institutions in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Serbia, and others, alongside Lingang Group and the Shanghai Digital Enterprises Going Global Service Association. Tech Week Shanghai, serving as a global data industry exchange platform, attracted science and innovation enterprises from over 30 countries and regions to exhibit.
Shao Jun, Director of the Shanghai Data Bureau, and Song Xianrong, Head of the International Data Governance Cooperation Department of the National Data Administration, jointly launched the pilot. The global data industry exchange platform, Tech Week Shanghai, also set sail on the same day and will subsequently maintain ongoing connections with cities like Singapore, London, and Frankfurt, forming a normalized international cooperation mechanism featuring a "Shanghai home base + overseas linkage."
The national-level pilot authorization obtained by Shanghai signifies that it has been granted greater exploration space and resource allocation authority in the institutional design of cross-border data flows, international rule alignment, and industrial ecosystem construction. Unlike previous single-point breakthroughs at the Free Trade Zone level, this national-level pilot builds a full-chain system city-wide, encompassing infrastructure (international networks, cross-border storage and computing), institutional innovation (city-wide coverage of the negative list, mutual recognition of rules), and industrial ecosystems (digital outbound service clusters, multi-field cooperation). The success or failure of its exploration will directly impact China's discourse power and participation in rule-making within global digital governance.
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