That's a good question.
Data is the most valuable commodity in the world.
It has more value than oil, gas or other natural resources.
China's geostrategic approach is to dominate in terms of networks and software, everything from data flow to data analysis. They want to have the capacity to receive and control this data. China knows that the country that will dominate this field in the 21st century will be able to dominate the geostrategy of the 21st century. It's an integrated strategy.
Because the relationship between the Chinese government and Chinese companies is very close, the Chinese government is able to execute this geostrategic approach in a way that is incomparable to democratic countries.