SCO's digital economy forum boosts integration

Greater efforts will be made to strengthen cooperation among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the digital economy and to drive industrial transformation and upgradation through the adoption of the latest digital technologies, said officials, experts and company executives.

They made the remarks at the 2025 SCO Digital Economy Forum, which kicked off in Tianjin on Friday. The event, organized by the National Data Administration and the Tianjin municipal government, has attracted more than 1,500 guests from the governments of SCO countries, enterprises, universities and think tanks.

Addressing the forum's opening ceremony, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang called for more efforts to promote normalization of digital economy cooperation mechanisms among SCO countries, improve the interconnectivity of digital infrastructure comprehensively, and push ahead with the sharing of innovations in the sector.

Ding also emphasized the significance of jointly establishing a multilateral and collaborative system for digital security governance; strengthening international cooperation in digital governance; and supporting the United Nations to play a leading role in global digital governance and rule-making.

Liu Liehong, head of the NDA, said the SCO members have carried out significant and extensive cooperation in areas such as digital infrastructure construction, digital transformation of traditional industries, e-commerce, digital payments and big data applications, thus propelling the development of digital technologies and the prosperity of the digital economy with remarkable achievements.

He stressed the need to bolster the deeper integration of real and digital economies, saying there is ample cooperation scope among SCO countries to leverage digital technologies to empower industrial development.

The digital economy is currently booming across the globe. Buoyed by innovative digital technologies like AI, big data and cloud computing, new industries and newer forms of business are finding a wide range of applications and integrating with the real economy.

Secretary-General of the SCO, Nurlan Yermekbayev, said, "The SCO member states possess abundant economic, technological, natural, and human resources. On the one hand, we actively integrate into global processes, keeping pace with the times and promoting innovation and the digital agenda. On the other hand, the member states still face various challenges, such as imbalances in the scale and speed of digital development and fragile financial infrastructure."

China, as a global leader in the development and export of digital and information communication technology, has become the most important partner for the Central Asian region in the field of digital economy development, said Daniyar Kurbanov, director of the International Institute of Central Asia, Uzbekistan.

"Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, through bilateral mechanisms with China, the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism, and platforms such as the SCO, are engaging in collaborations that are becoming key drivers for the digital transformation of our region," said Kurbanov.

He said Chinese companies like Huawei have made significant contributions to the construction of Uzbekistan's communication and digital infrastructure and the application of digital technologies in various economic sectors and education.

Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, the world's largest telecom carrier, said it is of vital importance to boost technological innovation and international cooperation in the "AI plus" era. He added that the company is accelerating steps to build new-generation digital infrastructure including networks, data and computing power.

He highlighted that the in-depth integration of digital technologies with the real economy has prompted the digitalized, intelligent and green transformation of the economy and society, while calling for promoting interconnectivity in information infrastructure, and quickening the innovative application of intelligent technologies.

Zhou Hongyi, founder of Chinese internet enterprise 360 Security Group, said as new cybersecurity challenges have appeared along with the rapid development of the global digital economy and application of AI in various industries, his company will provide comprehensive security protection for the digital infrastructure and information systems of SCO countries, and jointly build a safe network operation system.