China.org.cn | September 22, 2020
Red Star News:
Mr. You, my question is: How have the previous two summits hosted in Fuzhou influenced the city's social and economic development? Thank you.
You Mengjun:
Thank you for your question. In my opinion, the previous two Digital China Summits have had a deep and lasting impact on Fuzhou in the following four main areas:
First, the summit has helped reach a consensus about development in Fuzhou. General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the digital Fujian strategic decision 20 years ago, which has proven to be insightful, significant and influential. In sponsoring the summit, we understand and focus more on the necessity, urgency and importance of the city's digital development. Following decisions made last year by the municipal party committee and local government on Fuzhou's strategic digital development, 141 key projects with investment totaling 140 billion yuan were launched there. This year, in line with new decisions by local authorities, we launched 175 cutting-edge information technology projects, including 5G base stations, AI and the industrial internet, with total investment approaching 230 billion yuan. A consensus has been reached that these projects have reinforced the engine of Fuzhou's economy.
Second, the summit promotes Fuzhou's development. With the influence of the Digital China Summit, a number of leading companies in the field, including Huawei, Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, Ant Financial and Bitmain, have launched business operations in the city. Over the past few years, the overall investment of Fuzhou's 159 major digital economic projects reached a total of nearly 160 billion yuan. This year, the local digital economy is expected to rise to 450 billion yuan, accounting for 45% of the city's GDP. The number of high-tech enterprises will increase from nearly 700 in 2016 to 2,000 today.
Third, the summit has stimulated industrial upgrading. Concrete progress has been made in the integration of informatization and industrialization. For instance, the establishment of "internet plus textiles" through a cloud service platform that enables enterprises to complete seamless procedures from product promotion and two-way communication to bill confirmation, has saved costs amounting to tens of millions of yuan. Meanwhile, according to our calculations, the Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co Ltd has raised its production efficiencies by 30.5%, thanks to the industrial internet platform which enables its data-based, internet-supported and smart-operated R&D, design, production and sales sectors to run more smoothly. Industrial upgrading can also be seen by the swift bulk transactions of food worth trillions of yuan at the Yuanhong International Food Industrial Park which has partnered with JD.com. Last but not least, the Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd in Fuzhou has integrated manufacturing industry with industrial big-data, industrial AI and 5G technologies, enabling an interconnected network between manufacturers, suppliers and customers. In doing so, production resources are distributed more efficiently.
Fourth, the summit has helped promote more tech-applications in the city. As Mr. Zhao just said, Fuzhou has spearheaded the application of digital technologies in different realms, receiving a warm welcome from the public. For instance, we have created a QR code for our "e-Fuzhou" app, which allows local residents easy access to hundreds of public services, such as public transportation, social and medical insurance, payments and consultations. With data facilities, we provide credibility scores for local enterprises on our "Jasmine Credit Platform" and allow those with high marks to pay after consumption. We also launched a facial recognition service platform which lets passengers take the subway by simply having their face scanned. In addition, our smart parking lots allow drivers to leave and then pay fees later. These scenarios demonstrate the wide range of uses for digital technologies. In the upcoming third summit to be hosted in Fuzhou, a digital asset operation company focused on exploring data-based asset management is scheduled to open. It is the first of its kind to be set up in the country.
Please allow me to take this opportunity to emphasize one more point. During the epidemic outbreak early this year, we adopted diverse and effective approaches to prevent and control the disease from spreading further using the wide range of digital technology applications. With our timely response, the anti-epidemic efforts received positive results. Applications included booking nucleic acid tests via "e-Fuzhou," issuing guidelines via the "e-Prevention" mini program, and fulfilling remote treatments using "internet plus" technologies. All these demonstrate our digital-buttressed anti-epidemic efforts.
The two previous summits have created opportunities that have transformed Fuzhou. We believe that with the hosting of more summits, growing impact will be felt, and we will improve the social and economic development through the meeting.
Thank you.