On January 5, 2026, the National Standardization Technical Committee 609 on Data (SAC/TC609) held its annual plenary meeting (hereinafter referred to as “the Meeting”) in Beijing. The 2026 work priorities of the SAC/TC609 systematically outline tasks across five key areas: the layout of the data standards system, the development of key standards, application example and pilot multiple-scenario validation, international cooperation, and working mechanisms. The TC has made it clear that in 2026, it will further improve the national data standard system, focusing on research into sub-standard systems in key areas such as data governance, data circulation and utilization, comprehensive digital transition, data technology, and data infrastructure etc.

The Meeting confirmed that key standards to be developed and revised will focus on two main directions: fundamental commonality and specific industry sectors, and specifically in following directions:

-   Consolidating data foundation: accelerating the development of standards such as those for data product description and data product quality evaluation. Such standards are considered foundational compliance documents for data products entering the circulation stage, directly impacting their functional definition, quality claims, and delivery acceptance.

-   Deepening data governance: initiating the development of important data identification catalogues for industries such as automotive, industrial, telecommunications, seed industry, aerospace, geographic information, and civil aviation, and promoting the inclusion of more sectors.

-   Promoting data circulation and utilization: researching and developing standards for data value assessment for trusted data spaces, catalogues of data products and services, etc.

-   Advancing the comprehensive citywide digital transition: developing standards for city intelligent hubs, city digital foundations, urban sensing systems, and city intelligent agents.

-   Improving data technology: formulating standards for high-quality dataset format requirements, classification guidelines, quality evaluation, and annotation requirements, and initiating forward-looking research on standards for embodied AI datasets and data interoperability interfaces.

-   Strengthening data infrastructure: developing standards for the national integrated computing power network, covering areas such as computing power grid integration, computing power and efficiency measurement, intelligent computing power pooling, multi-dimensional computing power billing, and computing power operation services and matchmaking transactions.

-   Specific areas outlined for promoting integrated application through data-related standards are set as: natural resources, ecological environment, disease control, traditional Chinese medicine, media, and pharmaceuticals.

The Meeting also confirmed the commitment to effectively promote multi-scenario pilot validation and application demonstrations of data standards. Specific actions include:

-   Building a platform for data standard validation and application services.

-   Strengthening linkages with sector, local and association SDOs.

-   Enhancing the communication and implementation of standards for industries and localities.

In the Meeting, SAC/TC609 also emphasized the need to deepen international standards exchange and cooperation. Specific actions include:

-   Actively participating in and applying to host international standards meetings such as ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 (Data management and interchange), ISO/IEC JTC 1/WG 11 (Smart cities), ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42/WG 2 (Artificial intelligence - Data), and IEC/SyC Smart Cities (Electrotechnical aspects of smart cities). The TC will also closely monitor and deeply engage in the work of ISO/IEC JTC 4 (Data management and services).

-   Promoting the development of international standards in areas such as data utilization, data management, smart cities, and data models. Organizing Chinese experts to propose new international standard work items and improve the alignment of Chinese standards with international standards.

-   In terms of cooperation with international organizations, conducting standardization exchanges with organizations including International Data Spaces Association(IDSA), CEN/CENELEC JTC 25 (Data management and interchange), ETSI TC DATA, Catena-X (automotive value chain open data ecosystem), and Gaia-X (European data infrastructure). This will involve implementing cooperative activities such as joint standard research, expert visits, and exchange seminars.

Furthermore, TC609 announced at this meeting its plans to improve and optimize its internal working and coordination mechanisms, including but not limited to:

-   Formulating the Administrative Measures for the International Standardization Activities of SAC/TC609.

-   Actively exploring working models for TC609 committee members to participate in standardization work and initiating procedures for adjusting and supplementing committee membership when appropriate.

-   Establishing an evaluation mechanism for the effectiveness of standardization work by standard WGs and industry application groups to enhance the quality and efficiency of data standardization work.

For foreign stakeholders, the key developments and critical information regarding TC609's work that require close attention include:

-   Data processing activities will face clearer compliance boundaries, and relevant industry solutions will need to adapt to China's important data identification rules.

-   Foreign companies providing technical solutions for data spaces, data intermediaries, or data trading platforms should pay attention to new standards that will form the baseline for compliance in technical architecture and functional design.

-   Companies involved in smart city solutions, urban IoT devices, and city data platforms should also monitor future data standards that are newly developed or revised.

-   The development and revision of more technical support standards concerning the compliance of AI training data could potentially impact the compliance costs associated with data sources for AI products.

-   Foreign companies involved in computing power scheduling, computing power trading, and intelligent computing centers should pay attention to the potential impact of relevant standards on the compatibility of their technical solutions.