China’s Data Sovereignty and Security: Implications for Global Digital Borders and Governance

China’s digital rise and data localization policies, grounded in the principle of “data sovereignty,” are reshaping international digital borders. These policies contrast sharply with the United States’ market friendly data governance model and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework, which prioritizes the protection of individual rights. This study advances the discourse on digital re-bordering by examining the intersection of digital sovereignty, security, and borders in the context of China’s digital rise and intensifying data competition between the US and China.

Through comparative analysis, this study reveals an increasing divergence in global digital governance structures and the emergence of competing digital borders.

These findings underscore the need for a new theoretical framework that reconciles differing views on data sovereignty and security, ultimately proposing a cohesive approach to address the fragmented landscape of transnational data governance.

This study highlights the urgent need for a global data governance framework to address the current fragmented landscape of data regulations and the misuse or overuse of data localization.