Southern Metropolis Daily:

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have issued a plan outlining the overall framework for the country's digital development. The document emphasizes support for the in-depth integration of digital technology with the real economy, as well as the accelerating innovative application of digital technology in areas such as agriculture, manufacturing, finance, education, medical services, transportation and energy. What are the goals, tasks and measures for the integrated development of digital technology and the energy sector?

Liu Deshun:

Thank you for your question. Energy serves as a fundamental support for socioeconomic development. In the context of accelerated digital technology innovation and its increasing integration into all fields and stages of socioeconomic progress, the integrated development of the energy sector and digital technology is a key growth driver for upgrading the industrial base and modernizing the industrial chains of China's energy sector in the new era. The initiative holds great significance for enhancing the sector's core competitiveness, supporting its high-quality development, and working actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. The 14th Five-Year Plan and the period ahead present an important opportunity to accelerate the integration of digital technology and the energy sector. However, generally speaking, China's energy sector is still in the early stages of digital and smart transformation. There is an urgent need to further strengthen coordination and guidance for industrial transformation and development.

In order to implement the plan for the overall layout of China's digital development that you mentioned, and accelerate the innovative application of digital technology in the energy sector, the NEA recently issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Digital and Smart Technologies in the Energy Sector. The goals are to promote the adoption of digital technology in energy production, transportation, storage, sales and use, build a digital and intelligent innovative application system covering all aspects of the energy sector, and speed up the transformation of energy system operation and management model toward greater standardization, digitalization and intelligence. Efforts will be made to increase the proportion of new energy within the energy system and enhance total factor productivity, realize qualitative, efficient and dynamic changes in energy development, improve the quality and efficiency of the energy sector, and curb the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions. Based on the principles of "demand-oriented, digital empowerment, collaborative and efficient, and integrated innovation," the opinions proposed multiple measures from such aspects as accelerating industry transformation and upgrading, promoting application pilots and demonstrations, advancing breakthroughs in generic technologies and improving the support system, as well as strengthening organizational support efforts. These measures are centered around diverse application scenarios, such as smart power plants, smart grids, smart coal mines, smart oil and gas fields, and comprehensive energy services, in order to promote the engineering and industrialization of innovation achievements and cultivate advantages in the integrated development of digital technology and the energy industry from all aspects. Thank you.