Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology recently released the work plan for developing the “Two Zones.” The plan sets annual targets of introducing more than 20 industrial projects and platform projects, including cutting-edge and innovative projects, foreign-funded projects, capital-intensive projects and those that can stimulate industry growth, with the annual investment of more than RMB 10 billion, to create a new ecosystem for digital economy.
The plan lists several tasks and measures. For example, Beijing will accelerate its efforts to expand the coverage of the 5G network, actively promote the access network development for the gigabit fixed-line network, take the lead in realizing targeted coverage of 5G network and full coverage of gigabit fixed-network in the pilot free trade zone, assist enterprises in applying for dedicated access to international Internet data, build satellite network infrastructure, and advance the construction of intelligent and reliable digital infrastructure.
At the same time, the city will promote cross-border and cross-sector openness in digital economy, and actively open up the Internet information sector. It will open the domestic virtual private network business to foreign investors (with the foreign share ratio capped at 50%) and lift the limits on the foreign share ratio in information service business (only for application stores). At the same time, it will promote Zhongguancun Software Park, Jinzhan International Cooperation Service Area and China (Hebei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Daxing Airport Area to formulate plans for cross-border data flow and pilot cross-border data flow projects in different sectors with different priorities.
Beijing will open its market wider, in particular to world-leading enterprises and high-end industries and projects in digital economy, to promote its high-level openness in these fields. It will produce a number of major institutional innovations and industry cultivation models that are replicable and widely applicable to unleash the vitality of the export-oriented economy, and build Beijing into a pioneer in digital economy with global influence and a clustering zone for high-end industries, and a model city for global digital economy.
The 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), themed on “Global Services, Shared Prosperity”, was held in Beijing from September 4 to 9, 2020. At the 2020 Summit Forum on Trends and Latest Developments of Digital Trade, Ji Lin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called for attention to the ongoing digital boom driven by the new-generation information and communication technologies, the expanding digital industries, and the growing momentum of industry digitalization, which together have worked to turn the digital economy and digital trade into new engines of the world economy. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the way we work and live, and added to uncertainties facing economic and trade growth across the world. On the other hand, online shopping and online education have seen rapid growth, and digital solutions and digital trade have become more and more common. They have injected new momentum and opened up new space for economic recovery, changed our consumption behavior and lifestyles, and pushed us closer to the digital globalization era with digital trade at the core. We should make the best of the new technology boom and digital economy to accelerate the development of new business forms and new models represented by digital trade, and create new growth points for economic and social development.
(Source of photo: China Economic Weekly)
Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality jointly issued Several Opinions on Accelerating the Fostering of New Business Forms and New Models to Promote the High-quality Development of Beijing’s Economy and five supporting documents on June 10, 2020, Mr. Ji noted. The Opinions introduced practical measures to foster new business forms and new models and useful policy support plans centering on new infrastructure, new scenarios, new types of consumption, new opening-up and new services. In the future, Beijing will further accelerate the development of high-quality digital trade demonstration areas, and build digital trade pilot zones relying on the National Digital Service Export Base of Zhongguancun Software Park, Jinzhan International Cooperation Service Area and China (Hebei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Daxing Airport Area. No effort will be spared to promote blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data and other technologies to fuel production and trade, foster a number of leading and unicorn enterprises in digital economy with global influence and strong market presence, so as to build a sustained, stable, open, and prosperous global digital trading system.
