Nation pledges to further bolster digital endeavors

China will ratchet up efforts to speed up the construction of digital infrastructure and deepen reforms related to the market-oriented allocation of data elements, while advancing the building of a "Digital China", as the innovation of digital technologies has become a driving force for bolstering high-quality economic growth, officials and experts said.

Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing said that heightened efforts should be made to enhance independent innovation capacity in the digital field, step up the research and application of key digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain, and promote the establishment of a national integrated computing power network.

Zhang made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 8th Digital China Summit, which started on Tuesday in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

He stressed the need to explore the building of data circulation and transaction mechanisms in the industrial field, improve the basic data systems covering data property rights, revenue distribution and security governance, as well as boost the registration and authorized operation of public data resources.

China will make greater efforts to facilitate the high-quality development of the digital economy, nurture digital industrial clusters and speed up the implementation of the AI Plus initiative, while expanding opening-up and international cooperation in the digital domain, he added.

Acknowledging that algorithms, computing power and data play a pivotal role in supporting AI advancement, Wang Guangqian, vice-chairman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, called for pressing ahead with the mega data project dubbed "East Data, West Computing" and accelerating research and development breakthroughs in chips.

Wang highlighted the significance of bolstering the integrated growth of the real economy and the digital economy, supporting the large-scale application of large models, and propelling the utilization and development of public and corporate data.

China has unveiled a plan for the overall layout of the country's digital development, vowing to make important progress in the construction of a "Digital China" by 2025. By 2035, China will be at the global forefront of digital development.

The nation's total data output reached 41.06 zettabytes last year, up 25 percent year-on-year, while the added value of core industries of the digital economy accounted for about 10 percent of GDP, according to the "Digital China Development Report 2024" released at the summit.

Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said more efforts are needed to increase the supply of high-quality data and speed up the integration of data elements with AI, technological innovation and industrial development, in a bid to drive the high-quality development of the data industry.

By the end of this year, new computing power in major computing hubs will account for more than 60 percent of the country's total, and the use of green electricity in the newly built big data centers is expected to exceed 80 percent, he noted. Liu also called for efforts to accelerate the cultivation of a national integrated data market and establish standards and systems for data circulation and trading.

Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said it is essential to bolster the supply, circulation and use of data to fully unleash the huge value of data elements, while underscoring AI's significant role in propelling data management.

Noting that the accelerated application of AI has put forward higher requirements for intelligent digital and information infrastructure, Ke Ruiwen, chairman of China Telecom, said the company is accelerating steps to build intelligent computing platforms, and promote the integrated development of computing power with electricity, communication and energy in an innovative manner.

Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Chinese cybersecurity company Qi-Anxin Technology Group, said, "As new cybersecurity challenges like data leakage and malicious misuse of data have emerged along with the explosive growth of AI-powered large language models, safeguarding data security is of vital importance in bolstering the industrial application of AI and developing the digital economy."