China to Create Financial Regulatory Agency for Data Supervision in Government Reform

As part of a government reform slated to consolidate President Xi Jinping’s power over the world’s second-largest economy, China is planning to establish a new national financial regulatory agency, according to a plan submitted on Tuesday to the national legislature for deliberation.

The plan states that the new administration will be established on the foundation of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), which will not be maintained. The plan also states that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will transfer certain functions to the new administration.

According to a reform plan submitted by the State Council to the National People’s Congress, the new agency will be in charge of comprehensive data resource management as well as the planning and construction of a digital society.

In recent years, China has stressed the importance of bolstering state control over the valuable data generated by many sectors of the country’s economy, particularly the internet sector. In the wake of the emergence of data-dependent technologies like artificial intelligence, governments throughout the world are striving to obtain greater insight into and control over the flow of information.