The quality and performance of publicly listed companies are deeply intertwined with their stock market results. For China to enhance the inherent stability of its capital market and attract both domestic and international investments, it is crucial to encourage high-quality development in its publicly listed companies. This need becomes even more pressing in an era where digital transformation is accelerating, compelling these companies to embrace digitization to enhance their overall value and competitiveness.

To fully grasp the spirit and intent behind digital transformation, one must look beyond traditional economic theories, which mainly identify three production factors: capital, labor, and land. In this classic model, capital generates profits, labor earns wages, and land-derived resources generate rent. While this framework clarifies some fundamental principles of economic growth, it dramatically oversimplifies the landscape by excluding less visible yet vital production factors, notably data. In the digital economy, data has emerged as an indispensable asset that plays a critical role in operational processes.

The characteristic of data's infinite replicability imbues it with unique value, but simultaneously, this very feature creates obstructions in the data market. As a type of asset, data does not lose its utility through usage; however, its value remains challenging to gauge and consequently difficult to price. Issues surrounding ownership become intricate, sometimes implicating concerns of data privacy and security, further complicated by a lack of robust legal frameworks. The ownership of data is often dispersed among various entities, such as individuals, companies, governmental bodies, research institutions, and Internet firms, leading to a convoluted distribution that poses challenges for data aggregation.

Despite these issues, a consensus around information sharing and secure data transfer is gradually forming within society. From the perspective of spatial economics, data needs to be concentrated spatially to realize its aggregation benefits. Breaking down "information silos" and fostering multi-layered and cross-regional spatial connections is becoming a trend. Emerging data trading centers are beginning to aggregate data resources effectively, enhancing metrics for data value assessment while the market for data transactions continues maturing. Data trading platforms serve as venues for the interaction, integration, exchange, and trade of data as a production factor, essentially bringing together what was once scattered in disparate locations. The data factor market spans various domains, including storage, analysis, processing, trading, services, ecological guarantees, and data collection—all of which synergistically contribute to a cohesive supply chain for data factors.

Numerous publicly listed companies already possess substantial data assets. For instance, service-oriented data firms like Yihualu and Zheshuwang, technology-driven firms such as Star Ring Technology, and those focused on computing infrastructure like Cambricon and Unisplendour exemplify entities that are fundamentally engaged in activities related to data factors.

The implementation of a three-year action plan known as "Data Factor ×" aims to harness the multiplier effect of data factors to empower high-quality growth in publicly listed companies. Beginning in early 2024, this initiative highlights the collaborative potential of data factors with labor, capital, and other elements to carve out new avenues for economic growth. In spatial economics, the multiplier effect itself can be seen as an exemplary guiding function, perpetuating accumulative cycles that reinforce and expand the leading impact. The inherent multiplier effect of data factors can serve as a catalyst, uncovering greater potentials in labor, capital, land, and technology. By facilitating the flow of data assets, this initiative aspires to lead a cascade of resource flows, including technology, capital, talent, and goods, thereby amplifying the multiplier effect of data factors and freeing publicly listed companies from traditional resource constraints.

In addition to this, the sheer scale of China's market is a driving force for the commercial evolution of data factors and presents a foundational space for publicly listed companies to capitalize on. Currently, China is undergoing a substantial spatial economic restructuring process. As various regional developmental strategies mature, there is increasing integration among regions. For instance, central China is forging enhanced connections with the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, incrementally moving toward the establishment of a unified national market. The digital wave has become a significant force behind this ongoing spatial reorganization. Numerous e-commerce platforms and logistics providers leverage extensive data analytics to deliver products across great distances, facilitating efficient market transactions from southern regions to northern consumers—all achievable through mobile applications.

Publicly listed companies must seize the transitional phase from regional spaces toward the realization of a unified national market. By dynamically adjusting their strategies and optimizing their operational processes, they can harness the momentum of digitalization to explore new realms of growth. The multiplier effect of data factors is crucial for optimizing the utilization of China's expansive market, its vast data resources, and diverse application scenarios. Each publicly listed company needs to continuously reshape and reconstruct its data assets with spatial considerations. Enhancing their digital capabilities is imperative for converting these data assets into tangible wealth while simultaneously augmenting productivity and providing robust foundations for secondary market investments.

The challenge surrounding the balance between proprietary and shared knowledge in data intellectual property protection remains one of the formidable hurdles facing digital economic advancement, significantly disrupting the multiplier effects of data factors within publicly listed companies. Knowledge possesses dual characteristics of exclusivity and communal sharing. While knowledge creation originates from specific entities—be it individual scientists or research organizations—such knowledge inherently contributes to the collective advancement of human society. This duality complicates the balance between stimulating innovative contributions and facilitating societal dissemination.

Two principal dimensions emerge when considering intellectual property protection: duration and scope. The issue of protection duration revolves around the challenge of ensuring benefits without stifling broader knowledge dissemination. Extended protection may hinder the widespread applied utilization of specific knowledge, while shortened durations fail to yield adequate rewards for innovators, which could discourage future investment in creative endeavors. The scope of protection presents another arena for debate; overly broad protections may inhibit knowledge sharing, while too narrow protections might fail to sufficiently motivate innovative endeavors. In sectors such as high-tech advancements and creative industries, these considerations carry significant implications.

Historically, copyright has often been narrowly defined. Nonetheless, it is closely entwined with the burgeoning intellectual property sector, such as how urban IP initiatives drive local economic development. Data intellectual property protection represents an emergent field, grappling with these obstacles to balance creator rights with broader societal benefit. Issues arise, for example, with the copyrightability of AI-generated content. A narrowly defined protective scope could lead to rampant infringement, while a broadly defined scope may inadvertently inhibit the advantages of large AI models, thus undermining innovation. Similar issues arise concerning algorithms in commercial applications; limited protection could foster imitation while excessively broad protections might hinder societal knowledge transfer and lead to monopolistic practices.

Publicly traded companies should prioritize data intellectual property concerns as they explore data factors, maximizing data-related transactions while collaborating with research institutions to expedite technological advancements, thereby increasing the value of their data assets. Regulatory bodies must continuously refine their processes, establishing comprehensive legal frameworks for digital intellectual property to benefit all sectors, including publicly listed companies. Initial explorations in Beijing pertaining to data intellectual property creation, application, management, and protection offer valuable insights into negotiating the complexities of balancing exclusivity with communal access.

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort across various regions to accelerate digital transformation to boost the share of the digital economy within regional GDP. For instance, Beijing has aimed to position itself as a global benchmark city for digital economies, boasting a digital economic contribution valued at approximately 1.87 trillion RMB in 2023—a notable 8.5% increase from the previous year, representing 42.9% of the region’s GDP, marking a rise of 1.3 percentage points. The core digital economy sectors contributed around 1.11 trillion RMB, achieving a growth rate of 10.8% and a share of 25.3% in the regional GDP, similarly increasing by 1.3 points. This transformation emphasizes Beijing's drive toward digital evolution and the effective leverage of data factors to propel digital economic growth.

Numerous internet-based publicly listed companies inherently exhibit significant digital characteristics. Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou feature prominently with 13, 11, and 10 companies making the list, respectively. This signals a favorable environment for the digital transformation of publicly traded companies based in Beijing, enhancing their growth potential and offering substantive rationale for capital market investments.

As the digital economy continues to expand in scale and proportion within GDP, publicly listed firms are called upon to acknowledge the urgency surrounding digital transformation. They must leverage data factors amid ongoing spatial economic restructuring to seize novel economic opportunities. Timely strategy adjustments, streamlined business processes, and a commitment to high-quality development are essential for elevating intrinsic company values—serving as key catalysts for attracting both international and domestic capital into secondary markets, thereby bolstering inherent stability across capital markets.