AI Drives Systemic Expansion of China’s National Data Infrastructure, Experts Say

China is experiencing a systemic expansion of its national data infrastructure driven by artificial intelligence, transforming from public channels for data circulation into a foundational base for the intelligent era. Experts speaking at key industry events this week, including the 2026 China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang and the HICOOL 2026 Global Entrepreneur Summit in Beijing, highlighted this rapid evolution. Ao Li, vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said during a thematic session in Guiyang that national data infrastructure supports cross regional, cross industry and cross entity data circulation. Ao noted that infrastructure…