Original
The Emergence of Local Digital Platform Vehicles in China
Abstract
Abstract As China’s land-financed development model faces increasing constraints, local governments have turned to public data as a new strategic resource. However, there is a governance puzzle with public data: how can the state mobilize a resource whose ownership remains legally and politically unresolved? This article examines Local Digital Platform Vehicles (LDPVs), hybrid corporations that have proliferated since the early 2010s. Drawing on data gathered from extensive interviews and an original nationwide dataset of LDPVs from 2014 to 2025, we argue that these entities enable local governments to exercise “control without ownership” by asserting authority over data flows rather than through formal property rights. Internally, control is achieved through co-shareholding, task approval, personnel and strategic partner selection, which bind market actors to local developmental objectives. Externally, LDPVs extract value by internalizing subcontractor profits, pursuing data financialization and shifting towards platform-based models. The article shows how China’s local developmental state is developing new organizational instruments for governance in the digital age.
中文
中国地方数字平台载体的兴起
摘要
随着中国土地财政发展模式面临日益增强的约束，地方政府转向将公共数据作为新的战略资源。然而，公共数据存在治理难题：国家如何动员一种所有权在法律和政治上仍未明确的资源？本文考察地方数字平台载体（LDPVs），即自2010年代初以来大量涌现的混合所有制公司。基于广泛访谈所得资料以及2014年至2025年全国LDPV原创数据集，我们认为，这些实体使地方政府能够通过主张对数据流的权威而非正式产权来行使“控制而不拥有”。在内部，控制通过共同持股、任务审批、人员与战略合作伙伴选择来实现，从而将市场主体绑定于地方发展目标。在外部，LDPV通过内部化分包商利润、推进数据金融化和转向平台化模式来提取价值。本文展示了中国地方发展型国家如何在数字时代发展新的治理组织工具。
关键词
地方数字平台载体、公共数据、数据治理、地方政府、控制权、土地财政、发展型国家、平台经济