TL;DR - As China’s Q4 first month (October) closes, three digitalization tracks converge — data-asset on-sheet rule updates, five-cross data-infrastructure phase 2 rollout, and the Oct 20 Data-Element-X national finals in Qingdao
On Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026, the national finals of the “Data Element ×” competition kicked off in Qingdao — the closing battle of the three-year action plan (2024—2026) and the loudest “industrial mobilization” of Q4 so far. In parallel, the Ministry of Finance’s Interim Accounting Treatment for Enterprise Data Resources (effective Jan 1, 2024) is closing its first revision cycle: A-share listed companies have reported 3.86 billion yuan in on-sheet data assets as of May 7, 2026, up 76.4% year-over-year; the National Data Administration has stood up 65 phase-2 pilot sites, with more than 40,000 entities connected and 60,000+ products listed by July 2026. Three forces — “regulatory revision + phase-2 expansion + competition-driven diffusion” — converge at the Q4 first-month mark.
1. Data-Asset On-Sheet: From “Interim Rules” to a Closing Revision Cycle
The Ministry of Finance’s Interim Accounting Treatment for Enterprise Data Resources (effective Jan 1, 2024) created the first domestic accounting pathway recognizing data resources as intangible assets or inventory. As of May 7, 2026, 134 A-share listed companies disclosed data-resource line items in 2025 annual reports, totaling 3.86 billion yuan, up 76.4% versus 2024; including bond issuers and some local-government financing vehicles, total disclosures reach 4.753 billion yuan across ~250 entities (China Economic Times, 2026-10-13).
On the regulatory side, three revisions are landing at the same time: (1) the State-Owned Assets Law (draft) for the first time places data assets alongside other asset categories in law; (2) the National Data Administration has the “Data Property Registration Guidelines (Trial)” out for public consultation; (3) the national standard “Information Technology — Big Data — Data Asset Valuation” took effect on May 1, 2026.
Q4 first-month adds: On Sept 30, Henan-China-Europe Railway Express operator Zhonghao Technology completed property registration for “Freight-Loan Data” and “Multimodal-Transport Panorama Data” products, successfully bringing them on sheet (Henan Daily, 2026-10-08). This produces a reusable “registration → on-sheet → value realization” template for cross-border multimodal logistics.
On the capital side, the “Asset-Backed Securitization” (ABS) channel is now genuinely open: 26 deals have priced since 2025, raising more than 16 billion yuan; in February 2026, the country’s first pure data-asset ABS closed, with data appearing as the underlying core asset for the first time in domestic capital markets (China Economic Times, 2026-10-13).
2. Data Infrastructure “Five Cross”: From “Phase-1 18 nodes” to “Phase-2 65 pilots”
The National Data Administration launched its data-infrastructure pilot program in 2024. On Aug 28, 2025, at the China International Big Data Industry Expo, the second batch was published — 65 pilot carriers, including 25 new regional cities, 9 phase-1 cities re-applying, and 31 domain-specific carriers, collectively covering more than 80% of provinces/regions. On the same day, the first 19 city nodes already interoperable and capable of multi-source data processing were named. By November 2025, 18 city nodes — including Beijing and Nanjing — completed construction and interoperation, aggregating more than 3,900 entities (data exchanges, developers, etc.) and exposing more than 13,000 external data products.
In 2026 the network enters a “provincial integration + domain extension” phase. On Mar 6, 2026, Hunan’s public-data circulation infrastructure provincial node completed interoperability with the national-domain function node, becoming the first provincial-level regional node. Yangzhou’s “Grand Canal City Interconnection Trusted Data Space” and “Civil Aircraft Avionics Enterprise Trusted Data Space” were both included in Jiangsu’s Trusted Data Space “123+” project bank. The Eighth Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps — a phase-2 pilot city — signed a “Hundred Cities” interoperability agreement with Wenzhou, joining the nationwide network (NDRC site, 2025-11-10 Nanjing working-meeting bulletin).
National Data Administration’s latest read: “By July 2026 the data infrastructure connected more than 40,000 entities, listed 60,000+ products, with over 100 nodes attached to the national chassis,” forming a national-provincial-municipal-county four-tier pattern across “five-cross” dimensions (cross-region, cross-level, cross-system, cross-entity, cross-business).
3. Data Element ×: National Finals Kicking Off + Third-Batch Trials Expanding
The 2026 “Data Element ×” national finals — onsite review and awards — run Oct 20-23, 2026 in Qingdao. The submission system reopened Oct 10 and closed Oct 15 at 18:00. Provincial prelims ran in Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan and others; the Jiangxi prelim gathered 1,540 teams and 1,006 projects, up 37% / 44% year-over-year (Da He Cai Li Fang, 2026-10-09). Awards are determined by track: top 10% of finalists take first prize, 10-30% second prize.
Local pilots expand in parallel. The People’s Bank of China Hebei Branch, jointly with the Hebei NDRC and the Hebei Data and Government Service Bureau, issued the “Data Element X” Pilot Work Plan, selecting 15 provincial projects across four directions: data governance, sharing & circulation, integrated application, and security & compliance. The big-data platform has aggregated 80TB of foundational data and 18 business-system datasets, covering 33 banking institutions in the province, and has cumulatively granted 135 million yuan in credit to 20+ Anping wire-mesh enterprises and nearly 100 million yuan to 15 Jingxian rubber-and-plastic enterprises (Hebei Daily, 2026).
Policy backdrop: On Oct 9, 2026 the CPC Central Committee and State Council published “Opinions on Developing New-Quality Productive Forces,” reiterating: improve the ownership, market exchange, benefit distribution and rights-protection system for data-property, implement Data-Element-related pilot demonstration projects, and fully release data-factor potential. Paired with the Oct 20 finals, this forms a “central tone-setting + local mobilization” combination.
4. Cumulative vs. Q4-First-Month Increments
| Dimension | Cumulative (2026) | Q4 First-Month Increment |
|---|---|---|
| A-share listed companies with data-asset on-sheet | 134 (as of 2026-05-07) | New cross-border / industrial data-asset on-sheet cases in multiple provinces |
| On-sheet amount (annual-report scope) | 3.86 billion yuan | +76.4% vs. 2024 |
| Data-asset ABS deals outstanding | 26 deals, 16+ billion yuan | February: first pure data-asset ABS closed |
| National-data-infrastructure nodes | 100+ (2026-07) | Phase-2 65 carriers stood up |
| Connected entities | 40,000+ (2026-07) | Henan, Yangzhou, Shihezi nodes live |
| Data Element × typical cases cumulative | 417 (as of 2026-06) | Oct 20 finals awards + third-batch pilot expansion |
5. FAQ (High-Frequency Questions)
Q1: Why does Q4 first-month close matter for digitalization? A: Oct 20, 2026 is the closing node of the “Data Element ×” three-year action plan (2024—2026), paired with the Ministry of Finance data-asset revision landing and the National Data Administration five-cross phase-2 expansion. “Regulatory revision + phase-2 expansion + competition-driven diffusion” is forced into the same week, making it the highest-density industrial-mobilization window of the year.
Q2: What does “data-asset on-sheet revision landing” mean operationally? A: It means data moves from “invisible resource” to “quantifiable asset” with legal, accounting and tax confirmation. A-share annual-report cumulative 3.86 billion yuan + 250 entities + 26 ABS deals / 16+ billion yuan are the first time “resource — asset — capital” closed in a domestic three-stage loop.
Q3: What does the data-infrastructure “five-cross” still need? A: Hundred-node interoperation is done. Remaining gaps: (i) thousand-node descent to county-level; (ii) cross-region coordination standards; (iii) security controllability; (iv) revenue / benefit distribution. The Data-Infrastructure Interoperation Management Measures (currently out for consultation) plus “millisecond interconnect between compute” standards are the “seam-glue” needed for all four.
Q4: Why Oct 20 for the Data-Element × national finals? A: It sits at (i) the closing node of the three-year action plan, (ii) the Q4 first-month mark, and (iii) the first nationwide mobilization following the Oct 9 “New-Quality Productive Forces” central opinion — review before quarter-end, awards before week-end, then issue the typical-case list.
Q5: What’s still “invisible” in Q4 first-month? A: Several regulations land or open consultation in October: the Data-Property Registration Guidelines (Trial); the Data-Infrastructure Interoperation Management Measures; and the data-asset chapter of the State-Owned Assets Law (draft). Late October is expected to bring a second-batch “Hundred-Cities/Thousand-Enterprises” project list, plus a three-month conversion window after the Oct 23 awards.
6. Key Terminology
- Data-asset on-sheet — recognizing eligible data resources as corporate assets on the balance sheet under the Ministry of Finance’s Interim Accounting Treatment (effective Jan 1, 2024).
- Data property registration — National Data Administration “Data Property Registration Guidelines (Trial)” defines the unified three-rights split: holding rights, processing-and-use rights, product-operation rights.
- Five-cross — cross-region / cross-level / cross-system / cross-entity / cross-business interoperation for data infrastructure. By July 2026: 40,000+ entities, 60,000+ products.
- Hundred Cities Action — National Data Administration-led interoperation initiative across cities. Phase-2: 65 carriers including provincial capitals and domain-specialized cities.
- Data Element × — three-year action plan (2024—2026) led by the National Data Administration to unlock data as a multiplier. Cumulative: 417 typical cases + 760 typical-scenario guides (June 2026).
- Data-asset ABS — asset-backed securitization using data assets as the underlying asset. Since 2025: 26 deals, 16+ billion yuan; first pure data-asset ABS closed Feb 2026.
- Data-Element Value-Release Year — official framing for 2026, layered with the closing of Data-Element × three-year plan.
- Trusted data space — circulation infrastructure built on “raw data does not leave the domain; data is usable but invisible.” Jiangsu’s “123+” project bank is the representative rollout.
7. References
Official policy
- Ministry of Finance, Interim Accounting Treatment for Enterprise Data Resources (effective 2024-01-01)
- National Data Administration, Data Property Registration Guidelines (Trial) (public consultation, 2026)
- CPC Central Committee and State Council, Opinions on Developing New-Quality Productive Forces (2026-10-09)
- NDRC / National Data Administration, Five-Cross Data-Infrastructure Implementation Plan (2025-2026)
- National Data Administration, Data-Element × Three-Year Action Plan (2024—2026)
- Information Technology — Big Data — Data Asset Valuation (effective 2026-05-01)
Official data
- National Data Administration data-infrastructure interoperation progress bulletin (2026-07)
- NDRC / National Data Administration Data-Infrastructure Construction On-Site Meeting bulletin (2025-11-10, Nanjing)
- National Data Administration 2026 “Data-Element ×” Competition national-finals notice (2026-10-09)
Industry / media
- China Economic Times, Data Asset On-Sheet Breakthrough: Institutional Innovation from “Resource” to “Capital” (2026-10-13)
- Henan Daily, First Henan China-Europe Railway Express Data-Asset On-Sheet Completed (2026-10-08)
- Da He Cai Li Fang, Oct 20 Launch: 2026 “Data-Element ×” National Finals Set for Qingdao (2026-10-09)
- Hebei Daily, Data-Element X Pilot Lands in Hebei (2026)
- Gan Shang News, Jiangxi Data-Element Scenario-Innovation Salon Held in Nanchang (2026-10-16)
- National Data Administration Data-Element × news briefing (2026-07)