An aerial view of the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China Photo: VCG

Shenzhen-Hong Kong cross-border data verification platform, the first of its kind in China, was launched in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province on Wednesday. The platform will promote safe, efficient and compliant cross-border data flows, advance high-quality development in cross-border finance and other fields, industry experts said.

The platform, jointly operated by companies in Shenzhen and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was launched under the instructions and support of several regional government departments, including the Cyberspace Administration of Shenzhen and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

With the in-depth advancement of policies such as the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong has entered a new stage.

The platform was developed based on the concept of distributed data transfer protocols and the domestic open-source blockchain underlying platform. Leveraging the tamper-resistant and traceable advantages of blockchain technology, the platform has achieved user-authenticated verification of self-carried data through cross-border validation using hash values, which are often used with digital signatures, according to media reports.

The platform itself does not engage in the cross-border transmission and storage of the original data files, but only provides trusted verification services for business scenarios based on hash values.

In conjunction with the launch of the platform, the second batch of projects for the Shenzhen capital market financial technology innovation pilot was also launched. Utilizing next-generation information technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, the pilot program will explore innovation and empower technology under the premise of risk control, according to media reports.

In the outline plan for the GBA, issued on February 18, 2019, a specific guideline was included regarding the enhancement of the level of cybersecurity protection. The plan also pledged to actively  promote  the in-depth  integration  of  the  internet, big data and  AI  with  the  real  economy.

The building of the data platforms plays a significant role in promoting the construction of the GBA, particularly when it comes to the financial and digital economy sectors, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"With the establishment of this platform, cross-border data flows will be better supervised to effectively prevent financial risks," Wang said.

The platform is a follow-up to the outline plan for the GBA, which explicitly highlighted the need for escalating the data security precaution level, experts said.

"The ultimate goal is not just about protecting the data but making sure it flows well, so that it will generate value, and this is what this new platform is about," Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based technology analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The data flow verification platform will boost regional development in the financial sector and broader areas, and it will serve as an example for more places to follow suit, Liu said.