UPDATE 1-China appoints Unicom CEO Liu as head of new National Data Bureau

(Adds background, context, changes slug to China-regulation/data)

BEIJING, July 28 (Reuters) - China has appointed Liu Liehong, the CEO of state-owned telecoms giant China Unicom , to head its new National Data Bureau, the human resources ministry said on Friday.

Liu, 54, is an electronics and information technology veteran, and his appointment is the latest in a series following a government reorganisation begun earlier this year.

The new bureau is responsible for coordinating the sharing and development of the country's data resources, which is part of efforts to achieve President Xi Jinping's vision of a "digital China," where data is managed alongside labour and capital as a key economic driver.

The plan to form the new bureau, which is under China's powerful state planner, was announced in March as part of a sweeping government reorganisation.

(Reporting by Ella Cao, Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)