The former director of the Big Data Development Management Bureau of Guizhou Province of the Chinese Communist Party (referred to as the Big Data Bureau), Jing Yaping, was reported to have been taken down today (24th). Her predecessor, Ma Ningyu, was previously taken down. In addition to corruption in big data within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the recent increase in central monopolies utilizing big data resources for profit has once again drawn attention to data authoritarianism.
The Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced on February 24th that Jing Yaping, the former director of the Guizhou Big Data Bureau, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” and is currently under investigation.
Publicly available resumes show that Jing Yaping, born in August 1964, is a member of the CCP and the China Zhi Gong Party, as well as a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Jing Yaping has held various positions throughout her career, including Director of the Information Department and Deputy Dean of the Information College of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Deputy Director, Director, and Deputy Director of the Teaching Affairs Office at the Modern Education Technology Center of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Deputy Director of the Teaching Affairs Office and Director of the Experimental Teaching Department at Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Vice Dean and Party Committee Member of Guizhou Institute of Technology, Deputy Director of Guizhou Big Data Development Management Bureau, and President of Guizhou Academy of Sciences. In 2021, she was appointed as the director of the Guizhou Big Data Development Management Bureau and was removed from office in October 2024.
It is worth noting that Jing Yaping’s predecessor, Ma Ningyu, the former director of the Guizhou Big Data Bureau, was investigated while serving as the mayor of Guiyang in August 2024. Ma Ningyu was a delegate to the 14th National People’s Congress of the CCP, the youngest provincial-level Youth League Secretary within the CCP, and the youngest mayor of a provincial capital city.
Officials have not specified the exact issues involving Ma Ningyu and Jing Yaping, but in recent years, corruption within the CCP’s big data projects has raised concerns.
In April 2021, Liu Xinyun, former Vice Governor of Shanxi Province and Director of the Public Security Department, was taken down. It was reported that Liu once monopolized the entire province’s public security big data project through a company in Shandong, reaping huge profits from it.
After the severe lockdowns during the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, China’s economy stagnated in the past two years, facing financial difficulties. Big data projects have become a new source of revenue. CCP official media previously pointed out that some regions are shifting from “land finance” to “data finance.” In 2023, the CCP authorities established the National Data Bureau, and in June 2024, investigated multiple departments involved in profiting from government data resources, totaling 2.48 billion yuan in profit.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of the CCP is currently preparing to establish the “National Data Group,” a central enterprise dedicated to integrating, operating, and developing national data resources. According to a report by the Voice of America, analysts have warned that the establishment of this group could lead to market monopolization, potentially discriminating against foreign enterprises under government policy guidance and influencing the future development of high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence (AI).
On October 10th last year, the CCP officially issued a directive to accelerate the development and utilization of public data resources, “regulate the authorization and operation of public data,” and emphasized “the Party’s comprehensive leadership over data work.”
Assistant Researcher Wang Xiowen from the Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security Studies previously told Epoch Times that the CCP’s intention is to exclusively “develop and utilize” public data, designating it as a “national foundational strategic resource,” enabling the CCP to monopolize public data and make it one of its sources of profit. Currently, local CCP finances are generally burdened by real estate issues, and the public data economy has become a new source of revenue manufactured by the CCP.
China under the rule of the CCP has long been criticized by human rights organizations for developing a surveillance state with data authoritarianism, where people are constantly under surveillance. Now, the CCP intends to further exploit public data resources, develop data resources, and engage in public trading of data, raising concerns about further infringement on citizens’ privacy.