Abstract:

In the digital economy era, the efficient, secure, and compliant circulation of cross-border data flow has become a key issue for the coordination of global industrial chains and the deepening of regional cooperation. It is a driving force for the high-quality development of the global digital economy. Currently, cross-border data flow is confronted with multiple challenges, including the interweaving of driving forces and contradictions, inadequate adaptation between mechanisms and technologies, and poor connection between compliance requirements and practical implementation. There is an urgent need to formulate systematic solutions from both theoretical and practical perspectives. To this end, this journal has invited five experts from universities and enterprises to organize a roundtable discussion on the complete logical chain of "the underlying logic, mechanism construction, trend prediction, compliance governance, and scenario-based implementation of cross-border data flow". The key viewpoints are as follows: 1) Dynamic Mechanism and Governance Logic of Cross-border Data Flow: Cross-border data flow is jointly driven by three major forces: economic interests, technological innovation, and international cooperation. Meanwhile, it faces core contradictions including the trade-off between sovereign security and flow efficiency, fragmentation of rules and institutional coordination, and technological balance and the digital divide. It is necessary to establish a governance philosophy of "dynamic balance" and build a multilateral co-governance system through three types of tools-algorithm-based supervision, technology empowerment, and institutional experimentation-to promote the shift from "fragmented rule-based games" to "systematic coordination". 2) Construction of a Collaborative Mechanism for Cross-border Data Flow: The mechanism for cross-border data flow needs to break through the limitations of a single dimension and form a multi-dimensional collaborative system integrating "policy, technology, and industry". At the policy level, regulatory sandbox pilots, standard mutual recognition, and compliance infrastructure sharing are adopted to address regulatory barriers. At the technical level, scenario-specific needs are met based on a maturity gradient, and the integrated innovation of "technology + management" is promoted. At the industry level, the self-regulatory role of professional fields such as library and information science (LIS) is leveraged to compensate for the rigidity of policies and build a closed-loop governance structure. 3) Trend Evolution and Risk Resilience of Cross-border Data Flow: In the next 3 to 5 years, cross-border data flow will exhibit characteristics of structural growth and domain differentiation. Smart manufacturing and digital trade will drive growth on a large scale, while smart healthcare and modern agriculture will emerge as core sectors. It is imperative to address bottlenecks in infrastructure upgrading and the impact of "black swan" events, establish a risk resilience system from technical, governance and strategic dimensions, and promote service model innovation in LIS as well as advance layout in the agricultural sector. 4) Compliance Governance and China's Path for Cross-border Data Flow: China has established a hierarchical and classified governance framework centered on three fundamental laws, and explored practical paths through institutional innovations such as the negative list system in free trade pilot zones. To tackle challenges including discrepancies in legal compliance requirements, technical barriers, and the complexity of regulatory coordination, it is necessary to strengthen legal synergy and rule mutual recognition, advance infrastructure construction and technological innovation, and improve the compliance service support system, thereby forming a China-specific path that balances security and controllability with high efficiency and convenience. 5) Practice of Cross-border Data Circulation and Credit Product Mutual Recognition: Cross-border data circulation lays a core foundation for the cross-border mutual recognition of credit products, which holds significant strategic value for promoting the facilitation of international trade and supporting the international development of enterprises. Currently, it faces challenges such as data security compliance, standard discrepancies, and high technical costs. To advance the implementation of cross-border mutual recognition of credit products, efforts should be made to improve the legal and regulatory framework and standard system, strengthen the construction of technical infrastructure, deepen international cooperation and mutual recognition mechanisms, and cultivate international credit service institutions.

Key words: trusted data space, data element valorization, AI-empowered compliance, cross-border data trust, data justice, technology inclusiveness, regional collaborative governance