• Document Number：No. 17 [2018] of the General Office of the State Council
• Area of Law： Big Data
• Level of Authority： Regulatory Documents of the State Council
• Date issued：03-17-2018
• Effective Date：03-17-2018
• Issuing Authority： General Office of the State Council
• Status： Effective

Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Measures for the Management of Scientific Data
(No. 17 [2018] of the General Office of the State Council)
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all ministries and commissions of the State Council; and all institutions directly under the State Council:
The Measures for the Management of Scientific Data, as approved by the State Council, are hereby issued to you for your conscientious implementation.
General Office of the State Council
March 17, 2018
Measures for the Management of Scientific Data
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 For purposes of further strengthening and standardizing the management of scientific data, ensuring the security of scientific data, enhancing the level of openness and sharing, and better supporting national scientific and technological innovation, economic and social development, and national security, these Measures are developed in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Progress, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Sharing of Government Information Resources and other provisions.
Article 2 For the purpose of these Measures, “scientific data” mainly includes the data generated through basic research, applied research, and experiment and development, among others, in natural science, engineering technology and science and other fields, and the original data obtained through observation and monitoring, investigation and survey, and inspection and testing and other methods and used for scientific research activities and the derived data thereof.
Article 3 These Measures shall apply to the collection and production, processing and sorting-out, openness and sharing, and management and use of scientific data and other activities supported by government budgetary funds.
Where any entity or individual that engages in activities related to scientific data within the territory of the People's Republic of China falls under any of the circumstances as specified in these Measures, it or he shall be governed by these Measures.
Article 4 The management of scientific data shall follow the principles of hierarchical management, security and controllability, and full utilization, specify the responsible parties, strengthen capacity building, and promote openness and sharing.
Article 5 All entities and individuals engaging in the collection and production, use, and management of scientific data shall abide by relevant laws, regulations and departmental rules of the state, and shall not engage in the activities that endanger national security, public interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of others by utilizing scientific data.
Chapter II Functions
Article 6 The management of scientific data shall be subject to the system under which the state makes overall planning and all departments and regions take responsibility for their own work.
Article 7 The science and technology administrative department of the State Council shall take the lead in taking charge of the macro-management and comprehensive coordination of scientific data across the country, with the main functions as follows:
(1) Organizing the research and development of national scientific data management policies, standards and specifications.
(2) Coordinating and promoting the standardized management, openness and sharing, and evaluation and assessment of scientific data.
(3) Advancing in an overall manner the construction and development of national scientific data centers.
(4) Being responsible for the construction of the national scientific data network management platform and data maintenance.
Article 8 The main functions of the relevant departments of the State Council and the relevant departments of provincial people's governments (hereinafter collectively referred to as “competent departments”) in the management of scientific data are as follows:
(1) Being responsible for establishing and improving the scientific data management policies and rules and regulations of their respective departments (regions), and publicizing and implementing the national scientific data management policies.
(2) Directing their subordinate corporate entities to strengthening and standardizing scientific data management.
(3) Effectively conducting or authorizing relevant entities to effectively conduct the classification of confidential levels of scientific data in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state.
(4) Making overall planning for and constructing scientific data centers of their respective departments (regions), and promoting the openness and sharing of scientific data.
(5) Establishing sound and effective incentive mechanisms, and organizing the evaluation and assessment of the scientific data work of the corporate entities subordinate to these departments (regions).
Article 9 Relevant scientific research institutes, institutions of higher education, enterprises and other corporate entities (hereinafter collectively referred to as “corporate entities”) are the parties responsible for scientific data management, with their main functions as follows:
(1) Implementing the scientific data management policies of the state and departments (localities), and establishing and improving the relevant scientific data management rules of these entities.
(2) Conducting the collection and production, processing and sorting-out, and long-term preservation of scientific data according to relevant standards and specifications to ensure data quality.
(3) Effectively conducting the confidentiality and safety management of scientific data in accordance with relevant provisions.
(4) Establishing a scientific data management system, publishing and updating in a timely manner the catalogs of open scientific data, and actively providing scientific data sharing services.
(5) Being responsible for the condition, such as the software and hardware facilities required for scientific data management and operation, fund and personnel guarantees.
Article 10 A scientific data center is an important carrier for promoting the openness and sharing of scientific data, and shall be constructed by an eligible corporate entity entrusted by the competent department. Its main functions are as follows:
(1) Undertaking the integration, summarization and submission of scientific data in relevant fields.
(2) Being responsible for the grading and categorization, processing and sorting-out, and analysis and digging of scientific data.
(3) Guaranteeing the security of scientific data, and promoting the openness and sharing of scientific data in accordance with laws and regulations.
(4) Strengthening exchanges and cooperation at home and abroad in terms of scientific data.
Chapter III Collection, Summarization and Submission, and Preservation
Article 11 Corporate entities and scientific data producers shall, according to the relevant standards and specifications, organize the collection and production as well as processing and sorting-out of scientific data, so as to form easy-to-use databases or data sets.
Corporate entities shall establish the scientific data quality control system to ensure the accuracy and availability of the data.
Article 12 The competent departments shall establish the system for the summarization and submission of scientific data, and conduct the summarization and submission of scientific data of these departments (regions) on the basis of the national unified government affairs network and data sharing and exchange platform.
Article 13 The scientific data formed by the projects of science and technology plans (special programs and funds, among others) at all levels supported by government budgetary funds shall be summarized and submitted to scientific data centers by project leading entities. The scientific data centers receiving data shall issue summarization and submission certificates.
The administrative departments of science and technology plans (special programs and funds, among others) at all levels shall establish a mechanism under which the scientific data is summarized and submitted before the acceptance check of the projects of science and technology plans (special programs and funds, among others); and the scientific data generated after project/subject acceptance check shall also be summarized and submitted.
Article 14 The competent departments and corporate entities shall establish and improve the management system for the summarization and submission of data on academic papers at home and abroad.
When paper authors are required to submit corresponding scientific data to the outside world when writing and publishing papers on foreign academic journals by utilizing the scientific data formed by government budgetary funding, they shall submit the scientific data to their employers for unified management before the publication of the papers.
Article 15 The scientific data involving state secrets, national security, and public interests that is formed by social funding shall be summarized and submitted in accordance with relevant provisions.
Other scientific data formed by social funding shall be encouraged to be summarized and submitted to relevant scientific data centers.
Article 16 Corporate entities shall establish the scientific data preservation system, and be equipped with data storage, management, service, security and other necessary facilities to ensure the completeness and safety of scientific data.
Article 17 Corporate entities shall strengthen the building of scientific data talent teams and establish incentive mechanisms in terms of post setting, performance income, and professional title appraisal, among others.
Article 18 The science and technology administrative department of the State Council shall strengthen overall layout, and optimize and integrate the scientific data centers with good conditions and obvious resource advantages to form the national scientific data center.
Chapter IV Sharing and Utilization
Article 19 As for the scientific data formed by government budgetary funding, under the principle of “taking the disclosure as routine and the non-disclosure as exception,” the competent departments shall organize the preparation of the catalogs of scientific data resources, and relevant catalogs and data shall be connected to the national data sharing and exchange platform in a timely manner, and be open to and shared with the general public and relevant departments, and the channels for military and civilian sharing of scientific data shall be kept smooth, except as otherwise specially provided for by the laws or regulations of the state.
Article 20 Corporate entities shall conduct the grading and categorization of scientific data, clarify the classification of confidentiality levels and confidentiality periods of scientific data, openness conditions, objects to which scientific data is open, and approval procedures, among others, publish the catalogs of open scientific data as required, and keep such information open to and shared with the general public through online downloading, offline sharing or customized services or other methods.
Article 21 Corporate entities shall, as required, analyze and dig scientific data to form valuable scientific data products, and provide value-added services. Social organizations and enterprises shall be encouraged to provide market-based value-added services.
Article 22 The competent departments and corporate entities shall actively promote the publication and dissemination of scientific data, and support scientific research personnel in sorting out and publishing accurate and complete scientific data with clearly-established ownership and high sharing value.
Article 23 Scientific data users shall abide by the relevant provisions on intellectual property rights, and indicate the scientific data used and referenced during their paper publication, patent applications, and monograph publication and other work.
Article 24 Where scientific data needs to be used for government decision-making, public security, national defense construction, environmental protection, disaster prevention and reduction, and public welfare scientific research, among others, corporate entities shall provide such data free of charge; and where it is necessary to charge fees, they shall develop reasonable charging standards under the specified procedures and non-profit principle, and issue them to the general public and be subject to supervision.
Where scientific data needs to be used due to business activities, both parties shall sign a contract on paid services to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties, except as otherwise specially provided for by the laws or regulations of the state.
Chapter V Confidentiality and Security
Article 25 The scientific data involving state secrets, national security, social or public interests, trade secrets, and personal privacy shall not be disclosed to or shared with the outside world; where it is necessary to disclose such data to the outside world, the purposes of utilization, qualifications of users, and confidentiality conditions, among others shall be examined, and the scope of those with access thereto shall be strictly controlled.
Article 26 The collection and production, processing and sorting-out, and management and use of scientific data involving state secrets shall be governed by the relevant confidentiality provisions of the state. The competent departments and corporate entities shall establish and improve the management and use system for the scientific data involving state secrets, and strictly manage the production, verification, registration, copying, transmission, and destruction of scientific data and other links.
Where scientific data involving state secrets needs to be provided during foreign contacts and cooperation, corporate entities shall clearly present the types, scopes and uses of the data utilized, and submit them to the competent departments for approval according to the specified procedures for confidentiality management. Upon approval by the competent departments, corporate entities shall undergo the relevant formalities as required, and sign confidentiality agreements with users.
Article 27 The competent departments and corporate entities shall strengthen the whole-life cycle security management of scientific data, and develop scientific data security protection measures; and strengthen the certification and authorization of data downloading and other prevention and protection management, and prevent the malicious use of data.
For the catalogs of open scientific data that needs to be issued to the public or the scientific data that needs to be provided to the outside world, the competent departments and corporate entities shall establish the corresponding security and confidentiality review system.
Article 28 Corporate entities and scientific data centers shall, in accordance with the cybersecurity management provisions of the state, establish the cybersecurity guarantee system, adopt safe and reliable products and services, and improve data management and control, attribution management, identification, behavior tracing, and blacklisting and other management measures, and improve the anti-tampering, leakage prevention, anti-attack, anti-virus, and other security protection systems.
Article 29 Scientific data centers shall establish the emergency management and disaster recovery backup mechanisms, establish an emergency management system as required, and back up important scientific data in different places.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 30 The competent departments and corporate entities shall establish and improve the evaluation and assessment system for scientific data management and openness and sharing.
Article 31 In case of forgery of data, infringement upon intellectual property rights, failure to summarize and submit data as required or any other act, the competent department may, in light of the seriousness of the circumstances, order the relevant entity and responsible persons to make rectifications, circulate a notice of criticism on them, take disciplinary actions against them or impose administrative punishment on them in accordance with the law.
The entities and individuals that violate the relevant laws and regulations of the state shall be subject to the corresponding liability in accordance with the law.
Article 32 The competent departments may develop the specific detailed implementation rules by reference to these Measures. The management system for the scientific data involving the national defense field shall be developed separately by relevant departments.
Article 33 These Measures shall come into force on the date of issuance.