Abstract: Data infrastructure serves as the strategic and core foundation for the development of the digital economy, providing crucial guarantees for the efficient aggregation, circulation, application, and value transformation of data resources. This article systematically reviews the conceptual connotations and development history of data infrastructure, and conducts a comparative analysis of the strategic layouts and policy evolution of major economies such as the United States, the European Union, and China. The study finds that developed countries typically exhibit a “bottom-up” market-driven approach, promoting cross-regional and cross-sectoral data interconnectivity through unified regulations and collaborative construction. In contrast, China adopts a “top-down” strategy, advancing the construction and implementation of data infrastructure systems through top-level design and policy guidance. Based on the systematic review of historical development, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing China’s development and further proposes corresponding suggestions:1) solidify the foundation of data circulation and improve metadata infrastructure construction; 2) enhance the capacity of high-quality data supply and reinforce the service capabilities of public data infrastructure; 3) promote the construction of trustworthy data-circulation infrastructure and establish a multi-stakeholder, collaborative co-creation mechanism; 4)strengthening comprehensive supporting measures and coordinated management, and improve the comprehensive support system for data infrastructure construction.

Key words: Data Infrastructure; Data; Data Element; Data Resources; Data Circulation; Digital Economy