Economic Daily:

SOEs are an important pillar of the national economy, and their digital transformation has attracted much attention. Could you brief us on what important measures will be taken next? Thank you.

Gou Ping:

Thank you for your question and concern about the digital transformation of SOEs. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to digital development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly made important instructions on how to build China's strength in cyberspace, develop a digital China, and boost the integration of the digital economy and the real economy. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the recently concluded Two Sessions, China made systematic arrangements for accelerating digital development. The SASAC will fully implement the policy decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and advance the digital transformation of SOEs.

First, we will strengthen top-level design. The Notice on Accelerating the Digital Transformation of State-owned Enterprises was issued to clarify the significance, main tasks, and safeguards of the digital transformation of SOEs.

Second, we will step up efforts to make this transformation. We have made digital transformation a key task in the reform and development of central SOEs, invited heads of SOEs to give lectures on digital transformation, and held promotional activities. Additionally, we have set up a collaborative innovation platform for central SOEs involved in BeiDou, blockchain, digital, and e-commerce development.

Third, we will set up demonstrative models to play a leading role. We have selected and published 100 typical cases in eight categories from SOEs, including product and service innovation and intelligent production and operation, to promote mutual learning.

SOEs have responded positively. Overall, the digital transformation of SOEs has made positive progress, which can be summed up in the following three aspects. First, we have accelerated the construction of a new digital infrastructure, in which SOEs can give full play to their role as the main force in new infrastructure construction. We sped up the construction of new digital infrastructure such as 5G, big data centers, and the industrial internet. The application of the BeiDou system in the industry has been enriched. More than 80 central SOEs have built group-level data centers and established more than 60 industrial internet platforms represented by the CASICloud and CEC Industrial Internet. Three central telecom SOEs have built more than 700,000 5G base stations, and COMAC has built China's first plant with full 5G coverage.

Second, we will accelerate the digital transformation of industries. SOEs have deepened the integration of digital technology and production, making major headway in digital product innovation, intelligent production, smart user services, and industrial ecology. Two thirds of the R&D institutes of the central SOEs have achieved work in 3D digital modeling and simulation, and more than half have built collaborative digital ecological platforms for the industrial chain. China State Shipbuilding Group has designed and built the world's first smart ship certified by classification societies (China Classification Society and Lloyd's Register). China Baowu has built an unmanned factory to achieve quasi-unmanned crane operations. Meanwhile, the State Grid has built a new energy cloud platform to promote the coordinated development of more than 3,000 upstream and downstream enterprises.

Third, we will boost the industrial application of digital technologies. SOEs have focused on core electronic components, high-end chips, industrial software, among other key areas to strengthen target research, and made breakthroughs in CPU, FPGA, operating systems, and EDA. SOEs have fostered a digital industry with a focus on cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, AI, and blockchain. Nearly 60 central SOEs have set up digital industry companies and more than 70 central SOEs have registered an annual transaction volume of more than six trillion yuan in e-commerce business. A group of influential enterprises have been developed, including State Grid Information & Telecommunication Group, Shanghai Baosight Software, and Richfit.

Next, we will enhance communication and cooperation with relevant state departments and local governments. We will make joint efforts to organize the implementation of special action plans for SOE digital transformation, coordinate the progress of digital transformation of industries and the industrial application of digital technologies, and break through core technologies to foster digital application scenarios, build models for industrial transformation, and make new progress in the digital transformation of SOEs. Thank you.