It's hard to run a country if you make public policy announcements that don't reflect what you want. Even if you tell your inner circle not to take the policy seriously, there'll be a lot of outsiders taking it at face value, especially in a country with more than a billion people. Based on what they heard coming from the central government, various municipalities are working on stricter laws (e.g. Shenzhen's new data regulations http://www.szrd.gov.cn/szrd_zlda/szrd_zlda_flfg/flfg_szfg/co... ) and economic publications are talking about the potentially astronomic fines and steps compliance departments are taking to manage that risk https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bAbyNyg4FZSsbrY9he5BkA

Sure would be a bummer if the government didn't really mean it that way, but companies end up improving their data management practices anyway.

I think that the article is implying all of that without saying so directly (maybe trying not to be banned in China). They refer at several points to the government's fear of companies having more data on people than the government does, making clear that this is about maintaining control and power.