AI Fundamentals

Three reasons why Chinese companies are leading the way in data strategy — and what Europe can learn from them

Job van den Berg

February 1, 2026

min read

Three reasons why Chinese companies are leading the way in data strategy — and what Europe can learn from them

Chinese companies are extremely strong in data-driven work

In the rapidly changing world of data and technology, it is striking how far Chinese companies are in dealing with data. During a recent trip to China, it became clear that companies there have an advantage when it comes to setting up a strong data foundation and the effective application of A.I. But why is that? And more importantly, what can European companies learn from this?

1. Data collection without restrictions

In China, all available data stored. This starts with customer data and extends to behavioral patterns, interactions, and even comprehensive customer reviews.

By the way, data storage legislation in China has become much stricter since 2021 with the introduction of PIPL; a variant of the GDPR.

Benefit of a broad database

This abundance of data enables them to quickly access the predictive value recognizing different variables and basing data-driven decisions on them.

2. Data storage is not a barrier

Another important difference is the role of data storage. In China, there is a huge data center overcapacity.

Storage is cheap and scalable

In contrast to Europe, where storage costs and infrastructure sometimes impose restrictions, data storage in China is cheap and almost unlimited. Companies don't have to worry about the costs of keeping large data sets.

Result: no loss of valuable data

As a result, nothing is thrown away — everything can be potentially valuable for future analyses and AI applications.

3. Smart use of different data sources

Combining Chinese companies quantitative data with qualitative insights. Think of systematically storing:

Customer Reviews
Surveys
Images (such as product photos)

Case Study: Poizon — AI in e-commerce

A good example is Poizon, a luxury version of Zalando. They have developed an AI algorithm that can recognize whether designer clothing is real or fake via photos. This has become possible through a combination of product features and millions of customer reviews.

What can Europe learn?

Although European companies are dealing with privacy rules and higher data storage costs, there are lessons to be learned from the Chinese approach:

Invest in a broad data foundation within the framework of regulations.
Combine hard data with qualitative customer feedback.
Use AI to extract value from existing data sets.
Think creatively: restrictions don't have to stop innovation.

Conclusion

Chinese companies are demonstrating how powerful a smart data strategy can be. By making optimal use of all available data, cheap storage and advanced AI applications, they know how to accelerate their growth. Despite limitations, European companies can learn a lot from this approach to stimulate data-driven innovation themselves.

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