On May 19, 2026, the National Data Administration (NDA) of China issued the Key Working Points for Digital Economy Development 2026 (hereinafter referred to as “the Working Points” ) to facilitate the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy.

The Working Points are issued to support the tasks listed in the 15^th Five-year Plan of China, and specifically stated 8 key missions:

-   Deepen the market‑oriented allocation reform of data factors: Establish a unified national data property rights registration system as soon as possible, and issue corresponding registration guidelines. Governments on the regional level should promptly improve the pricing mechanisms for authorized public‑data operations. In addition, policy documents shall be promulgated with the objective of building an open, shared, and secure unified national data market.

-   Strengthen the digital infrastructure foundation: Accelerate the construction of a national unified computing power network, and coordinate the deployment of data, network, computing power, and energy resources. Steadily advance the development of data infrastructure, while supporting demonstration projects in various industries and sectors.

-   Strengthen data empowerment for artificial intelligence (AI) development: Implement six special action programs that will further assist to produce a set of high‑quality datasets that meet AI readiness requirements, effectively support advanced model training, and directly address practical industry‑specific challenges.

-   Enhance the core competitiveness of the digital economy: In accordance with local conditions, foster three categories of digital industry clusters: innovation‑led, regional pillar, and regionally distinctive. Establish a collaborative selection and incubation mechanism that aligns government, enterprise, innovation and investment. Set up a dedicated incubation pool, and identify promising digital economy enterprises for targeted support.

-   Promote deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy: Continue to advance digital transition in the manufacturing sector and in key industries, and help the service sector enhance its capacity and service quality. Enrich the supply of services such as data operations, data technology, and data analytics; encourage enterprises to explore new data‑service models that share risks and benefits; and cultivate a group of service providers for digital and intelligent transformation, focusing on major data‑empowered application scenarios.

-   Enhance digital governance and service capabilities: Accelerate the legislative process for the law on promoting the digital economy, continuously strengthen data security management, and place particular emphasis on the identification and protection of important data and core data.

-   Deepen international cooperation in the digital economy: Engage in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, actively participate in the formulation of international rules and standards in the data domain, support qualified localities in building cross‑border data flow service infrastructure and international data centers, and develop a number of cross‑border trusted data spaces.

-   Foster a favorable development environment: Establish a central‑local coordinated and scientifically robust monitoring and evaluation system for the digital economy, research and publish a digital economy development index and relevant leading indicators; further deepen the construction of national pilot zones for digital economy innovation and development, and organize expert consultation tours.

For next steps, NDA, in conjunction with relevant authorities, will ensure the implementation of all the aforementioned points so as to contribute to the building of a modern industrial system for the country, as well as accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces, and empower high‑quality economic development.

Besides the overall planning, NDA also focuses on the development of emerging technologies/factors within the digital economy, and their integration into the present work. On May 22, 2026, top leaders of NDA held a workshop on token, in the purpose of gathering professional views and perspective to explore the possibility to promote a healthy and sustainable development of token economy so it can improve the value of data elements. Experts and representatives from different entities, including but not limited to scholars, press, enterprises and research institutes etc. The meeting also stated that NDA would integrate the development of token economy into its working framework, continuously track and study progress while incorporating feedback from all sectors of society. The Administration also will work on building high-quality industry datasets and a nationwide integrated computing power network to advance the market-oriented allocation reform of data elements and promote high-quality development of the token economy.

The Working Points are overall plans that may not initiate direct compliance or market access impact to foreign stakeholders, but such horizontal work for the sector will have significant influence on the relevant system and the specific developing strategy for specific sectors on both national and regional level. Stakeholders of the traditional sectors are also advised to note the potential changes that may be brought by the efforts of China to further integrate digital sectors and technologies.