The opening ceremony of the Global Data Ecosystem Conference 2023 held in Shanghai, Nov 25, 2023. [Photo provided chinadaily.com.cn]

Efforts will be made to advance the integration of data in the key sectors of smart manufacturing, trade circulation, transportation and logistics, financial services and healthcare in order to nurture new industries, novel business models, new services and governance ways, Liu Liehong, head of China's National Data Bureau, said on Saturday.

Liu said this during the opening ceremony of the Global Data Ecosystem Conference 2023 held in Shanghai from Nov 25 to 26.

In light of the multiplier effect of data, China's advantage of data resources can transform into competitiveness in economic growth. From a macro point of view, data can optimize the allocation of resources, promote the transformation of production methods, and improve the efficiency and quality of economic development, said Liu.

Data can lead the flow of materials, talents, technology and capital to the right company. It can also prove to be optimal solution for industries with limited resources. For example, by opening up the data along the manufacturing industrial chain, upstream and downstream factories can coordinate their production as well as research and development. The R&D process will be shortened and cost in the supply chain will be reduced, creating products with higher quality and better performance, he said.

As one piece of data can be reused by multiple entities, it can create diversified value increments in different scenarios, Liu added.

For example, medical and health data used for clinical diagnosis can help doctors treat diseases more accurately. The same data applied to medical research and drug R&D can help accelerate the launch of new drugs. When it is used in the medical insurance industry, the same data can be transformed into customized insurance and accurate pricing, facilitating the upgrading of medical and health products and services, said Liu.

This year's Global Data Ecosystem Conference, which has been held for the third year in a row, attracted more than 10,000 participants from over 1,000 domestic and international data companies.

The first edition was held in 2021, marking the establishment of Shanghai Data Exchange (SDE). The monthly trading value at the SDE has exceeded 100 million yuan ($14.1 million) and the annual sum is expected to exceed 1 billion yuan, said the exchange's management team.

During the opening ceremony of this year's conference, a total of 10 leading multinational companies such as Dun & Bradstreet and London Stock Exchange Group listed their international data products at the SDE, covering sectors of finance, biomedicine and geographic remote sensing.