Pilot areas launched to support digital economy

National digital economy innovation development pilot areas have been set up in Zhejiang, Hebei (Xiongan New Area), Fujian, Guangdong and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing municipality during the ongoing World Internet Conference, in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

Each pilot area will explore the circulation mechanism of digital economy elements, new types of production relations, allocation of resources and industrial agglomeration development models by combining its own advantages and characteristics, according to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Cyberspace Administration of China.

By following the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially building the nation into a strong cyberpower, the pilot areas will grasp opportunities to become a benchmark for the innovative development of China's digital economy, being a powerful support of high-quality growth.

Yang Xiaowei, vice-minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China said at the WIC that more efforts are needed to develop the core technologies in network information, strengthen the construction of key internet infrastructure and improve the network governance system.

"We should nurture and expand the teams of new entrepreneurs, as well as promote innovation and entrepreneurship, in a bid to constantly unleash the vitality of the digital economy," Yang said.

Ren Zhiwu, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission said the launch of digital economy innovation development pilot areas is of great significance.

He said the integration of the digital economy and the real economy is gaining momentum, adding there is also a need to speed up the digital transformation of government.

A booming digital economy is reshaping China's economic landscape as technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing are reviving traditional industries and promoting high-quality development.

In 2018, China's digital economy reached 31.3 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion), accounting for 34.8 percent of the country's GDP, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

As a spearhead of China's reform and opening-up, the coastal province of Zhejiang is leading the nation in terms of digital economic growth. Gao Xingfu, vice-governor of Zhejiang, said the provincial digital economy reached 2.33 trillion yuan last year, taking up 41.54 percent of its total regional GDP.

Gao emphasized that the province will boost the deep convergence of the internet, big data and artificial intelligence with the real economy, establish a batch of industrial internet platforms and intelligent factories, and bolster the upgrading and transformation of traditional industries.

Robin Li, co-founder, chairman and CEO of internet search giant Baidu Inc said the digital economy has entered into a new stage of intelligent economy, with AI as the core driving force.