Wu Zhongze, Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology

Dear leaders, experts, distinguished guests, friends, good morning!

Today, I am very pleased to be invited to participate in the 2018 Asia-Pacific International Economic Cooperation Annual Conference jointly sponsored by BJAPEC and other units. With the theme of "Global Consensus and Sharing in the Digital Age", the conference will deeply explore the development of the international situation, analyze the trend of Sino-US trade relations, help the development of the digital economy, help Chinese and foreign enterprises build an international exchange and cooperation platform, and contribute to the international economic cooperation with folk wisdom and strength. First of all, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations on the success of this annual meeting!

At present, the global new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has developed in depth. The digital economy has become the core driving force for the scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. Human society is entering a new stage with digital productivity as the main symbol. The development of the digital economy uses data as a key production factor, effectively driving the sharing of labor, capital, land, technology, management and other elements, intensive integration, collaborative development and efficient utilization.  At the same time, it promotes the integration of a new generation of information technology and deep integration in various fields of economy and society, and has nurtured new technologies, new industries, new formats, and new models, and has become a new driving force for the transformation of production methods.

In recent years, in the face of the risks and uncertainties in the overall development environment of the world economy, the global economic recovery is weak, and seeking to develop new growth points has become the top priority of many countries and regions in the world. With the rapid development of information technology, the digital economy has sprung up everywhere, and its strong development momentum is rather embarrassing compared to the sluggish current situation of the sluggish demand of traditional industries. The ability to seize opportunities and accelerate the transformation of economic activities that are important components of the network information technology industry has become a key step in the economic development of all countries. According to a report released by Accenture, the total US digital economy has accounted for 33% of GDP in 2015, and the optimization of digitization will increase US GDP by 2.1% by 2020. Germany released "Digital Strategy 2025" to clarify the idea of German manufacturing transformation and building a digital society in the future; UK introduced "Digital Economy Strategy (2015-2018)" to build a digital power; Japan proposed to build a "super-smart society" to maximize Integrate cyberspace with real space. In the next few years, the digital economy will account for 22.5% of the global economy.

China attaches great importance to the development of the digital economy. The Party’s 19th National Congress report proposes the construction of the “Digital China” strategic goal and calls for the deep integration of the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and the real economy, in the middle and high-end consumption, innovation leading, green low carbon, shared economy, modern supply chain, Human capital services and other fields will foster new growth points and create new kinetic energy.  In recent years, China has taken the supply-side structural reform as the main line, accelerated the development of the digital economy, the booming development of emerging industries, and the profound reshaping of traditional industries, which have formed a huge market and deep foundation for the development of the digital economy.  A number of innovations have been harvested in the fields of "Internet Plus" and artificial intelligence. New technologies, new formats, and new models such as sharing economy, online retail, and mobile payment have emerged, which have profoundly changed people's lives. The digital economy has become an important focus for China to cultivate new kinetic energy with information technology and promote new development with new kinetic energy. It has become a strategic choice for building a modern economic system and realizing the transition from a high-speed growth phase to a high-quality development phase.

Throughout the current development trend of the global digital economy, the basic pattern of the United States and China has gradually formed. In the key areas of the digital economy such as the Internet industry and the artificial intelligence industry, China and the United States are in the industrial mass, talent pooling, technological innovation, Influential and other aspects have shown a strong competitive advantage. In 2016, China's digital economy has reached 22.4 trillion yuan, about 3.8 trillion US dollars, accounting for 30.1% of GDP; the US digital economy is about 11 trillion US dollars, accounting for 59.2% of GDP, still maintaining a large scale. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the global economic weakness has not improved significantly, and the rapid development of China's digital economy is a realistic version of “curve overtaking”.  In the past, due to the lack of primitive accumulation in technology, China has sought to enhance the innovation strength by means of “market-for-technology”. However, the technology spillover effect of foreign R&D centers is far from the expected effect, making China always in the forefront of technological innovation for many years. In a weak position, it is difficult for Chinese companies to expand into international high-end industries.  However, up to now, China's R&D strength in many fields has been at the world's leading level. A number of achievements, including quantum communication, have been internationally recognized. A number of high-tech enterprises such as Huawei have gone abroad to become truly multinational enterprises. In particular, China's model innovation in the application of the digital economy is very active, even surpassing the United States to achieve "leading".  Therefore, historical experience proves that independent innovation is the lifeline of China's digital economy development. It is foreseeable that in the future, China's digital economy will face more pressure from international competitors. The US's advantages in technological innovation are still obvious. Germany and Japan's strength in smart manufacturing, electronic appliances and other fields cannot be underestimated. The good development trend of China's digital economy, further strengthening the ability of independent innovation and opening up the international market are important challenges for China's future stage.

To this end, we must use "innovation-led, data-driven" as the core strategy for the development of the digital economy.  It is necessary to fully understand that innovation is the first impetus. We must implement the innovation-driven development strategy in depth, follow the problem-oriented, demand-oriented, and goal-oriented, give full play to institutional advantages and market advantages, and work hard in key areas and places where the neck is necked, and accelerate the development support. The key core technologies of the digital economy are to enhance the innovation capabilities of next-generation information technologies such as big data, the Internet, and artificial intelligence.

 At the same time, we must thoroughly implement the national big data strategy, pool data resources, promote data circulation, promote data integration, sharing, openness and application, and lead technology flow, material flow, capital flow, and talent flow with data flow to mine data resource value. Stimulate the new vitality of the economy, promote the transformation and upgrading of the economic structure, and form a new form of data-driven economic development.

 President Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to deeply participate in global science and technology governance, contribute to China's wisdom, and strive to build a community of human destiny. This is especially true for the development of the digital economy.  Independent innovation is an innovation in an open environment, and it must not be closed. It is necessary to deepen international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, promote independent innovation at a higher starting point, actively utilize international innovation resources, plan and promote technological innovation in the digital economy field with a global perspective, actively integrate into the global digital economy technology innovation network, and strive to build a digital economic cooperation. Win the partnership.  

We must implement the "G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative" and the "APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap", focus on strengthening digital infrastructure and capacity building, enhance the accessibility of the digital economy, eliminate the digital divide, and cultivate more The points of interest and economic growth point allow countries at different stages of development to share the achievements of digital economic development, and let the people along the “Belt and Road” countries catch up with the digital economy to develop express trains and inject new powerful momentum into the Asia-Pacific economy. 

Thank you all!