Companies must be first line of data defense

On Friday, Didichuxing, a leading domestic car-hailing company, announced it had begun the procedures for exiting from the New York Stock Exchange and was preparing to apply to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Didi, as it is known, announced its listing on the NYSE on June 30.The listing was obviously done in a hurry, as it failed to fully communicate with relevant departments before listing in New York. It even ignored the advice from certain government agencies about postponing the process due to concerns about the security of the data of hundreds of millions of users.

Didi has 493 million active users globally, of which the majority are in China. The company has the names of these users, their smartphone numbers, their home and company addresses, even their preferences.

It has much money to lose from exiting the stock market in the US, but that should be considered the price it has to pay for not being aware of the risks listing in the US poses to the data of Chinese users.

Exiting from the NYSE will ensure brighter prospects for the company. For the nation, stricter regulation of internet companies is of key importance to better protect its data security, as well as enhance the quality of the whole industry's development.

Of course, that move should not be misinterpreted as "China curbing the development of the digital economy". On the contrary, by properly regulating the companies, China is better protecting the data security of its citizens, as well as ensuring the long-term prosperity of the whole internet sector.

On Sept 1, China's Data Security Law came into effect, which provides solid legal grounds for protecting the rights and interests of all parties involved in the internet economy. Internet companies need to abandon the past mode of unregulated expansion, and shoulder more responsibility for data security.

That's why Didi's move of listing in Hong Kong instead of New York is welcome. And by listing in Hong Kong, the company will be able to grasp the opportunities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, and grow together with the vital economic forces of China.