Industry analysts predict that China’s most recent initiatives to further its digital development would strengthen the country’s core global competitiveness, support digital transformation, upgrade industries, and establish a strong foundation for long-term economic growth.
They recognise that China has accelerated the development of digital infrastructure and a data resources system in recent years. The remarks were delivered after reading a relevant directive that was recently announced by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, and the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
According to the guidelines, creating a digital China is crucial for the growth of Chinese modernisation in the age of the internet. It claimed that a digital China will offer strong support for the creation of the nation’s new competitive advantage.
Considerable advancements will be made in the development of a digital China by 2025, with effective interconnection in digital infrastructure, a significantly better digital economy, and significant advances made in digital technology innovation.
China will be at the forefront of digital development by 2035 and its digital advancement in specific areas of politics, business, culture, society, and ecology will be more coordinated and sufficient.
The latest initiative to create a digital China, according to Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Centre at Zhejiang University’s International Business School, will not only give the digital economy a strong boost but also open new business opportunities for firms working in the telecommunications, computing, digital government affairs, and information technology sectors.
The guideline, he continued, is thorough and establishes a clear course for the nation’s impending digital transformation. With the economy under strain, emerging digital technologies like 5G, big data, and AI have been essential in boosting operational effectiveness, reducing costs, and accelerating digital and intelligent upgrades in businesses.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China added 887,000 new 5G base stations last year, bringing the country’s total to 2.31 million, or more than 60% of the global total.
China will work to speed up the implementation of digital technologies in critical industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, finance, education, health services, transportation, and energy, as well as to encourage their thorough integration with the real economy.
It was also specified that the appraisal and assessment of government officials will consider the development of a digital China. Additionally, efforts will be made to ensure capital infusion and to encourage and direct capital to take part in the nation’s digital development in a uniform way.
Further, the increased digital infrastructure development is crucial to support the industrial upgrade and foster new growth drivers, according to Chen Duan, director of the Central University of Finance and Economics’ Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Centre. This is because of the increasingly complex global environment and geopolitical tensions.
The government’s plan establishes a defined course for China’s future digital development and will encourage local governments to actively contribute to the creation of a digital China under the direction of new incentives.
With this, more efforts should be made, according to Yin Limei, director of the digital economy research office at the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Centre, to strengthen the enterprises’ prominent role in technological innovation, make advancements in the integrated circuits industry, and foster a group of high-tech businesses with international competitiveness.