China has emerged as the world’s firm leader when it comes to cross-border data flows as its digital and online economies continues to proliferate.
China accounted for 23% of cross-border data flows in 2019, according to a report from the Nikkei based on figures from the International Telecommunication Union and US consultancy TeleGeography.
Second-place holder the US accounted for less than half of China’s share of cross-border data flows at just 12%.
China first surpassed the US in terms of cross-border data flows backin 2014, and currently has over 900 million Internet users.
The country’s increasing share of online information exchange is the result of rising interactions with its Asian neighbours, who currently account for over half of data flows in and out of China. The US share of data interactions with China stood at 25% in 2019, as compared to 45% in 2001.
