Southern Metropolis Daily:
It is noted that the digital economy has maintained a strong momentum of growth since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak this year. Would you like to brief us on what innovative measures were put in place to develop the digital economy? Thank you.
Shen Zhulin:
Thanks for your question. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak this year, the digital economy has grown rapidly, bucking the trend of economic slowdown, which plays a vital role in our fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and promoting the resumption of work and production. I believe the achievement is evident. From health code and online education to expos held on the cloud, the digital economy changes the way we live and work, giving strong impetus to socioeconomic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pays great attention to the development of the digital economy. This March, during his inspection in Zhejiang Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we should seize the opportunities of industrial digitization and digital industrialization to deploy digital economy. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has fully implemented the guidance made by General Secretary Xi Jinping and carried out the policy decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We have remained sensitive to changes, responded to them with well-judged actions, been ready to adjust the approach when necessary, and actively promoted the development of the digital economy. The measures we have taken are mainly in two aspects, which are as follows.
First, we have faced up to the difficulties and stepped up efforts to promote the digitalization of industries. We know that digital transformation has always been a problem for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, they were not active in digital transformation. The COVID-19 outbreak has made them realize the benefits that digital transformation can bring. In the past, many enterprises regarded digital transformation as one of their options for development. Now it has become their first choice. However, prominent problems emerged as some of these enterprises have been hesitant to transform or have found it hard or impossible to transform. To solve such problems, the NDRC worked with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and other related departments to issue an initiative of cloud services and big data application as well as making enterprises smarter. By cooperating with nearly 150 institutions, we launched a digital transformation partnership action plan, mobilizing all sectors of society to drive change. We carried out over 500 measures to support companies to transform. And more than 300 free or discounted services were provided to SMEs. Preliminary statistics show that, since the action plan was launched four months ago, about 3 million individuals and MSMEs have received the support, and their digital transformation problems have been effectively solved.
Second, we have followed the trends and actively promoted the industrialization of the digital economy. While the outbreak has imposed a crisis for us, it has also created new opportunities. New business forms and modes, such as online education, remote work and telemedicine, have emerged quickly, playing an important role in supporting the epidemic prevention and control work, improving people's livelihoods, promoting economic recovery, and stabilizing employment. To seize the opportunity, the NDRC and 12 other departments jointly issued the Opinions on Supporting Sound Development of New Business Forms and New Modes, and Activating the Consumer Market to Drive and Increase Employment to support 15 new business forms and modes. These measures covered 19 aspects, focusing on fostering a healthy environment for development through reform of government functions and accommodative and prudential regulation, in order to energize market entities and drive the sound development of the digital economy.
According to recent statistics, digital economy has maintained a good momentum of growth. In the first eight months of this year, the online retail sales of goods grew by 15.8% year-on-year, accounting for nearly a quarter of total retail sales of consumer goods, which means that the digital economy plays a vital role in stimulating the public's consumption potential and fostering the market. Meanwhile, some of the new business forms and modes have attracted more private investors, enabling some internet platform firms to achieve business revenues of more than 170 billion yuan in the first half of this year, up 13.6% year-on-year.
From the data application perspective, the digital economy also plays an important role in stimulating economic growth and encouraging enterprises to migrate to the cloud and use digital tools. In the first half of this year, the revenues of internet data services was up by 14.3% year-on-year. I believe the statistics show again that the digital economy maintains a robust momentum of growth and offers great potential. We have reason to believe that the digital economy will further inject real momentum into high-quality development. Thanks.
