Packaged, priced public data gives AI developers and lenders in Shanghai a licensed supply of government records, turning the city's 2025 authorization rules into products companies can buy.
Shanghai’s two licensed operators of government data have put their first products on sale. Shanghai Data Resources Operation, part of Shanghai Data Group, and Yunsai Digital Intelligence, part of state-owned INESA Group, released a batch of nearly 300 data products at the Global Data Ecosystem Conference on Shanghai’s West Bund on October 30 and 31, Yicai reported on November 2.
Shanghai’s two licensed public-data operators released a first batch of nearly 300 data products covering 14 sectors at the Global Data Ecosystem Conference. The sectors include public welfare, inclusive finance, transportation, urban governance, industry, environmental protection and education.
The batch is the first from these operators under rules that let state-backed companies turn government records into commercial services. Yicai did not report prices for individual products or name early buyers.
A licensing system built over the past 18 months
The products rest on a policy framework Shanghai assembled step by step. In July 2025, the city issued its Measures for the Administration of Authorized Operation of Public Data Resources (《上海市公共数据资源授权运营管理办法》), which set up a four-layer chain: the city’s data authority, an implementing body, licensed operators and the developers who build on the data, Xinhua Finance reported in June.
In this chain, government departments supply data, the Shanghai Municipal Data Bureau oversees the system, the Shanghai Big Data Center organizes implementation, and operators such as INESA (Group) run the licensed business, according to Xinhua Finance. In April 2026, the city’s implementation plan for its national digital economy pilot zone proposed using smart contracts to speed up approvals. In May 2026, Shanghai Data Group issued what Xinhua Finance described as China’s first fee schedule for public data operating services. It meters use in "data units" (数元) and charges in tiers that rise with volume.
INESA has also been building an ecosystem around its license. In June, it launched a first list of partner companies, which it calls a public data alliance, spanning telecoms, surveying, legal services and AI, and opened three data labs, including ones with China Pacific Insurance and China Unicom’s Shanghai branch, Xinhua Finance reported.
The city’s open-data platform already holds 8.94 billion records in 10,645 datasets, Xinhua Finance reported, and nationwide registrations of public data resources had passed 280,000 by late June. Early uses include China Pacific Insurance drawing on public data to price agricultural insurance and settle claims faster, and Anxin Agricultural Insurance setting rates for individual land plots.
AI is changing what a data product looks like
Executives at the conference tied the release to AI. Large language models and AI agents are reshaping how data circulates, Yicai reported, and Shanghai Data Group’s chief data officer, Shen Ke, warned that "new data silos are highly likely to form" if identity checks, product development and distribution are built as separate systems.
Xu Gang, executive deputy general manager of Yunsai Digital, described the approach as a production line that breaks data operations into steps that are "repeatable, measurable, and scalable for delivery." Yunsai plans to draw on its parent group’s computing power and scenario resources for large-scale deployment, while Shanghai Data Group uses blockchain as a shared trust anchor across its business nodes, according to Yicai.
The same conference produced a second piece of infrastructure. Shanghai launched a cross-border data flow system that connects to the Shanghai hub of the national blockchain network and uses privacy computing to keep data "usable but invisible, controllable, and traceable," Yicai reported. Its operator signed agreements with 12 companies, including China Unicom Shanghai, and the city opened a service station in Hongqiao to match companies with cross-border credit financing.
Buyers and prices will show whether public data pays
The release does not yet show demand. The clearest test will be whether banks, insurers and AI developers buy the products at the tiered rates and report what they use them for. Shanghai Data Group’s disclosure of sales volumes or revenue from the first batch, or a second batch built on lessons from the first, would show whether the city’s model works commercially and whether other cities copy it.