YANG Hanfang: Promoting Chinese Modernization through Measuring the Scale of the Data Industry

Measuring the scale of the data industry is a fundamental task for developing the digital economy, accelerating the construction of a Digital China, and advancing Chinese Modernization. First, by classifying data products and services from the output side and using enterprises’ operating revenue as the core indicator, the measurement provides a scientific reflection of industry scale and development trends, offering a quantitative basis for understanding industrial dynamics. Second, by exploring the relationship between operating revenue and value added, it establishes an institutionalized way for building a statistical system aligned with macroeconomic accounting. Third, this measurement may represent the world’s first comprehensive assessment of the data industry’s scale. It fills a domestic institutional gap while laying a solid foundation for telling China’s industrial story, sharing Chinese solutions, and enhancing China’s international discourse power.

To fully unlock the value of data as a production factor and drive Chinese Modernization, it is essential to further accelerate the work of measuring the scale of the data industry. First, under the premise of a relatively stable framework and standards, it is necessary to continuously track industry development trends, improve the monitoring system, and gradually establish relevant statistical institutions. Second, in terms of regional distribution and product structure, more detailed measurement and analysis should be carried out to improve both the comprehensiveness and foresight of industry monitoring. Third, the scope of data industry monitoring should be expanded to cover multiple dimensions such as business entities, employment, investment, and intellectual property. This will provide more comprehensive data support for policy-making and corporate decision-making.

(The above views are excerpted and translated from the article “Understanding and Reflections on Measuring the Scale of the Data Industry”, published on the official WeChat account of the National Data Development Research Institute by YANG Hanfang, Research Fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategy and Professor at the School of Statistics, Renmin University of China.)

Original article link:YANG Hanfang: Understanding and Reflections on Measuring the Scale of the Data Industry

Translator: ZHANG Yuqing

Web Editor: ZHANG Jingjing