The Chinese government has unveiled a sweeping new plan to promote the high-quality development of the country’s data labeling industry, a critical component of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. The “Implementation Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Data Labeling Industry” outlines a vision for transforming the sector into a global leader by 2027, with annual growth expected to surpass 20%.
The initiative, spearheaded by the National Development and Reform Commission and other key government bodies, aims to leverage China’s vast data resources and rich application scenarios to drive AI development. The strategy emphasizes the dual principles of market-driven growth and effective government support while ensuring safety, innovation, and international competitiveness in the data labeling ecosystem.
The plan sets ambitious targets to enhance the industry’s professionalism, intelligence, and technological capabilities. By 2027, the government envisions cultivating leading data labeling enterprises, fostering innovation through industry-academia partnerships, and establishing distinctive data labeling bases. These efforts aim to create a cohesive ecosystem where innovation flourishes, supply chains integrate, and regional cooperation thrives.
The strategy emphasizes unlocking the value of public data for AI development in areas like government services, urban management, and rural revitalization. Government departments are encouraged to release public data annotation catalogs and include labeling services in procurement processes. In the private sector, the plan highlights the need to expand data annotation in industries such as healthcare, autonomous driving, and digital trade to accelerate industrial transformation and innovation.
A key pillar of the plan involves advancing research in cutting-edge data annotation technologies, including cross-modal semantic alignment and large-model annotation. The government will support the creation of intelligent tools for data annotation, such as multimodal annotation and quality assessment platforms. Additionally, national standards for annotation technology, quality, and capabilities will be developed to ensure consistency and efficiency across the sector.
To foster industry growth, the plan encourages the formation of leading enterprises through mergers, acquisitions, and resource integration. It also promotes collaboration between large enterprises and small- and medium-sized enterprises through open-source platforms and support services. The development of data annotation innovation competitions and case studies will further stimulate creativity and best practices in the sector.
China’s strategy emphasizes the importance of international collaboration in technology, standards, and talent exchange. By leveraging the country’s robust digital infrastructure, Chinese companies are encouraged to undertake international data labeling projects and contribute to global standard-setting efforts.
To address the growing demand for skilled professionals, the government will prioritize training and certification programs. Partnerships between universities, research institutions, and enterprises will aim to cultivate a new generation of data annotation experts, ensuring the sector’s long-term sustainability.
The government plans to introduce fiscal incentives, such as tax deductions for research and development and subsidies for data labeling services, to lower costs for enterprises. A public service platform will also be established to provide dynamic monitoring, resource aggregation, and risk management for the industry.
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