Focus on the overall situation to promote the high-quality development of the digital economy

Source: Economic Daily

With the acceleration of innovation in technologies such as the Internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, and their increasing integration into the entire process of economic and social development, the development of the digital economy is unprecedentedly fast, wide-ranging, and influential. Countries are competing to formulate strategies for the development of the digital economy and introduce encouraging policies, and the digital economy has become the main track of international competition. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the development of the digital economy and elevated it to a national strategy. On the new journey, we must understand and promote the high-quality development of the digital economy from an overall perspective, promote the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, promote digital industrialization and industrial digitization, and comprehensively empower economic and social development.

The development of the digital economy is a strategic choice to grasp the new opportunities of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, which is of great significance.

First, it is conducive to promoting the construction of a new development pattern. The digital economy is an important starting point for smoothing the economic cycle at home and abroad, achieving innovation-driven development, and improving the resilience of industrial and supply chains. Data has become a key factor of production, and the combination of data and digital technology can play an important role in production, distribution, circulation and consumption, break through the blockages in the flow of resource factors, and make the domestic and foreign economic cycle smoother.

Second, it is conducive to promoting the construction of a modern economic system. The digital economy is not only a new economic growth point, but also a fulcrum for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and has become an important engine for building a modern economic system. As a new factor of production, data has a significant impact on the transformation of traditional production methods. It can effectively reduce information asymmetry and improve the financing efficiency of the real economy; improve the management and production methods, promote the transformation and upgrading of the real economy, and enhance creativity and competitiveness; Promote the transformation of economic development momentum to innovation-driven, and provide support for the construction of a modern economic system.

Third, it is conducive to promoting the construction of new national competitive advantages. The leading role of the digital economy in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is becoming increasingly prominent, and countries around the world attach great importance to building new competitive advantages through the development of the digital economy, and have formulated development strategies and related policies, increased R&D investment, and promoted the healthy development of the digital economy. It is necessary to better coordinate the overall domestic and international situations, give full play to the advantages of the new national system, massive data and rich application scenarios, seize the opportunity, and seize the commanding heights of the future development of the digital economy.

The mainland has a population of more than 1.4 billion, a middle-income group of more than 400 million, and more than 1 billion smartphone users and Internet users. At the same time, the mainland has an industrial system with a strong foundation, complete categories and complete structure, and is generally facing the urgent requirements of digital transformation and intelligent upgrading, forming a large-scale, multi-level and huge potential super-large-scale market demand. This can not only stimulate the research and development of digital technology, reduce the cost of trial and error of digital technology, but also provide rich application scenarios, accelerate the large-scale application and iteration of digital technology, and give birth to more new business formats.

In recent years, driven by the market foundation and multiple favorable policies, the development of the digital economy has accelerated. The scale of the mainland's digital economy has increased from 11 trillion yuan in 2012 to more than 50 trillion yuan at present, ranking second in the world for many consecutive years. According to data released by the National Data Bureau, the added value of the core industries of the mainland's digital economy is expected to exceed 12 trillion yuan in 2023, accounting for about 10% of GDP. At the same time, the foundation for the development of the digital economy has become more solid, the construction of digital infrastructure has been continuously expanded and accelerated, digital technology innovation has been continuously broken through, and the digital governance system has been continuously improved. The mainland has built the world's largest, wide-ranging and technologically advanced mobile communication network and optical fiber network, with the number of 5G base stations accounting for more than 60% of the world's total, the scale of data resources remaining the second in the world, and the average annual growth rate of the total computing power in the past five years is nearly 30%. From 2013 to 2023, the added value of information transmission, software and information technology services increased by an average of 16.7% per year, and industrial Internet applications have been integrated into 49 major categories of the national economy, cultivating 421 national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories and more than 10,000 provincial digital workshops and smart factories. All these have greatly expanded the space and potential for economic development.

At the same time, it should also be noted that compared with the world's major and powerful countries in the digital economy, the mainland's digital economy is large but not strong, fast but not excellent, and the potential of digital technology to promote economic and social development needs to be further tapped. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "we should give full play to the advantages of the mainland's socialist system, the advantages of the new national system, and the advantages of the super-large-scale market, improve the basic research and development capabilities of digital technology, fight the battle of key core technologies, achieve high-level self-reliance and self-improvement as soon as possible, and firmly grasp the autonomy of developing the digital economy in our own hands." This important assertion points out the direction for giving full play to its advantages to promote the high-quality development of the digital economy.

First, we need to give full play to the advantages of the mainland's socialist system and promote the sustainable and balanced development of the digital economy. In the process of rapid development of the digital economy, due to the differences in the level of digital infrastructure construction and the degree of application, there is a certain "digital divide" between different regions, industries and people. We must adhere to the general direction of innovation-driven, ignite a new engine of the digital economy, strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure, accelerate digital transformation, and strive to bridge the "digital divide", so that the fruits of the development of the digital economy can benefit all people more and more fairly.

Focus on promoting coordinated regional development, strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure in the central and western regions, and improve the level of cooperation between the east and west of the digital economy; Vigorously promote the construction of digital villages, accelerate the pace of rural digital transformation, increase the cultivation of rural digital talents, and improve the level of rural digital governance; enhance the accessibility of digital resources and promote the integration of digital literacy training into all types of education; Regulate the development of the digital economy, protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers in the digital era, establish an all-round, multi-level, and three-dimensional regulatory system, and prevent platform monopolies and disorderly expansion of capital.

Second, we should give full play to the advantages of the new national system and firmly grasp the initiative in the development of the digital economy. In terms of underlying digital technology innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, Internet of Things, and big data, the mainland is still facing problems such as key core technologies being "stuck". We must make good use of the important magic weapon of concentrating on major affairs, give full play to the advantages of the mainland's new national system, accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance, strive to achieve independent and controllable key core technologies, and build a solid bottom line for the development of the digital economy.

We should give better play to the state's role as an organizer in major scientific and technological innovations, carry out organized scientific research in strategic areas such as underlying technologies, core algorithms and key software with long cycles, high risks, high difficulties and good prospects, strengthen original innovation, and form an overall advantage for the future development of the digital economy. Deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system, improve the overall efficiency of the national innovation system, and form an ecosystem suitable for the innovation and development of digital technology. Optimize data trading, circulation and other related systems, and build a more fair and just data property rights system that is conducive to stimulating market vitality.

Third, give full play to the advantages of the super-large-scale market and fully release the multiplier effect of data elements. The development and application of technology is inseparable from market demand, and the digital economy has economies of scale. It is necessary to fully release the value of the massive data resources formed by the super-large-scale market, build a unified national market, further smooth the stuck points and blocking points of data flow, increase the construction of the public data resource system, improve the efficiency of data transaction and circulation, and increase the intensity, scope and depth of the development and utilization of data elements. Take advantage of the super-large-scale market to accelerate the optimization of the digital economy industry support, form a complete industrial system, improve the diversity of industrial ecology, cultivate a number of internationally competitive large enterprises and eco-leading enterprises with industrial chain control, and ensure that the digital economy production and supply system is independent, controllable, safe and reliable.

Promote the "integration of data and reality", use digital technology to carry out all-round and full-chain transformation of traditional industries, and give full play to the amplification, superposition and multiplication role of digital technology in economic and social development. Take advantage of the multi-level demand and rich application scenarios provided by the hyper-scale market to feed back the development of digital technology and stimulate the high-quality supply of digital technology research and development. At the same time, we will continue to strengthen the attractiveness of the super-large-scale market to global resource elements, enhance the allocation and integration of digital resources, strengthen the linkage effect of domestic and international markets and resources, actively participate in the formulation of international standards and rules, and comprehensively build new national competitive advantages.

(Source of this article: Economic Daily Author: Yang Lizhuo, Peng Xinyu Author's Affiliation: School of Economics and Management, Changsha University of Science and Technology)