It is vital and necessary for the Communist Party to keep its grip on data, writes boss of Chinese central enterprise
- Article appears amid Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on Big Tech and broader efforts to tighten its grip on data through new legislation and rules
- Opinion piece was written by chairman of China Hualu Group, which is based in the northeastern port city of Dalian and specialises in audio recordings
The Communist Party of China must keep a firm grip on the country’s data just as the ruling party controls its military and the media, as data is a fundamental resource for the party’s rule, the chairman of a state-owned enterprise has written in an opinion piece.
In an article published on the website of the Chinese Communist Party on Monday, Ou Li, chairman and party secretary of state-owned electronics maker China Hualu Group, wrote that data is not only an important production resource, but also a political tool as important as the “gun” and the “pen”.
“It has critical importance for the party’s long and stable rule of the country and China’s overall competitiveness,” Li said.
Ou’s article also described how China Hualu, a state-owned enterprise that specialises in audio recordings, will follow China’s Data Security Law, which will come into effect on Wednesday.
We have to deeply comprehend, study and execute the political meaning of the Data Security Law and list data security and development as an important item on the party committee’s agenda
The article was published amid Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on Big Tech companies and broader efforts to tighten its grip on data through new legislation and rules. China recently passed the Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law, aimed at ensuring that data remains in the hands of Beijing rather than Big Tech companies such as Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.