As data becomes the fuel of the global digital economy, one institution in China is racing ahead: the Beijing International Big Data Exchange (BDEx). Founded in 2021 as the country's first officially licensed data trading platform, BDEx is not just another marketplace—it is rapidly becoming the engine room powering China's ambitions in AI, digital finance, and cross-border data flows.

In just three years, the Exchange has reported an average annual growth rate exceeding 200% in transaction volume, with cumulative data trades totaling 2,250 terabytes and more than 100 million high-frequency data calls processed. This explosive growth underscores both the rising strategic value of data in China's national agenda and the country's fast-evolving digital infrastructure.

A Marketplace in Full Bloom: From Text to Multimodal Transactions

BDEx has cultivated a broad and dynamic ecosystem of data transactions, drawing participation from over 2,500 entities across 20+ sectors—including healthcare, energy, transportation, and finance. Over 80% of market participants are central state-owned enterprises, tech giants, and innovation-driven firms. Notably, more than a dozen multinational corporations have also joined, attracted by China's surging demand for high-quality, structured data.

The Exchange now offers 567 curated data sets—171 of which have already been successfully traded—spanning a wide range of modalities such as text, images, and audio. These are no longer confined to traditional use cases like fraud detection or marketing; data is increasingly being used for training large AI models, medical diagnostics, and scientific research.

This evolution reflects a broader shift in China's digital economy—from raw data accumulation to refined, scenario-driven data applications. As Li Zhenjun, Chairman of BDEx, put it: “We are witnessing data become a core production factor. It now fuels AI capabilities, strengthens real-world industries, and reshapes global trade dynamics.”

AI Front and Center: Feeding the Model Training Pipeline

In the age of foundation models, access to clean, labeled, and domain-specific data is everything. BDEx has risen to this challenge by providing data support for over half of China's top-tier AI developers, including well-known model developers such as Wudao(Zhipu AI) and Yanxi(JD.com).

The Exchange has delivered 475 high-quality data sets across 32 industries, totaling over 1,814 terabytes, directly contributing to model training efforts in more than 20 sectors—from financial risk control to industrial quality assurance. These datasets are sourced from 13 priority domains, including healthcare and media, helping developers train models that are more relevant, robust, and commercially viable.

What sets BDEx apart is its emphasis on multi-modality and compliance. It has made notable progress in improving the quality of multi-source datasets and strengthening intellectual property protections—two critical enablers for AI commercialization. As a result, AI-related datasets have quickly become one of the most in-demand asset classes on the platform.

Valuing Data as Capital: From Transaction to Assetization

BDEx is also pioneering the transformation of data into recognizable financial assets. So far, 342 companies have registered data assets on the platform, receiving 533 official certificates. Among them, 24 firms have successfully listed these assets on their balance sheets, with total valuations exceeding RMB 100 million (approx. USD 13.8 million).

In partnership with financial institutions, BDEx has introduced standardized loan products backed by data assets. By integrating data registration and trading histories into the bank credit process, the platform helps lenders evaluate collateral value more precisely while reducing the risk of duplicated pledges ("one data, many loans"). More than 10 enterprises have already secured loans totaling nearly RMB 300 million (USD 41.7 million) using this model—opening a new financing channel for data-rich but cash-light firms.

A Gateway to Global Data Trade: Cross-Border Capabilities Expand

BDEx isn't just domestic in ambition. It is actively building capacity to support cross-border data flows, particularly under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and within Free Trade Zones (FTZs). Among the most notable achievements: onboarding corporate credit data for 300 million enterprises across more than 200 countries and regions. These datasets offer critical decision-making support for Chinese firms expanding abroad.

In another use case, BDEx facilitated cross-border transactions of historical data for over 50,000 used vehicles, helping raise resale values in foreign markets. The Exchange has also built legal infrastructure to enable safe and compliant data exports, including contract standardization, offshore data escrow, and cross-border compliance verification.

For foreign businesses and regulators watching China's evolving data governance, BDEx presents a rare model of a state-sanctioned but commercially active exchange, operating in line with emerging global frameworks on digital trade and data protection.

Strategic Roadmap: Building a Trusted, Scalable Data Economy

Looking ahead, BDEx has outlined four key pillars for its next phase of development:

Regulatory Foundations: Establishing a full-cycle governance framework for data ownership, circulation, and pricing, with special focus on AI dataset standards.

Industry Expansion: Targeting high-impact sectors such as manufacturing and green energy to embed data transactions deeper into industrial processes.

AI-Centric Supply Chains: Co-developing vertical-specific data sets with enterprises to train domain models and support national AI training hubs.

Security and Trust: Launching intelligent review systems and enhancing evaluation tools to protect data integrity and enforce compliance.

For multinational banks, legal advisors, investors, and digital transformation consultants, BDEx represents more than a local Chinese exchange—it's a case study in how to architect a national-level data economy with capital markets thinking. Whether you're advising on ESG data, evaluating intangible assets, or developing AI applications, the BDEx model offers both inspiration and operational insights.