Digital Trade Develops Strongly to Become A“New Arena”of Competition

By Ada Wang

At present， digitization has been growing fast in the field of global trade and the scope of digital service trade has been expanding. Compared with global figures of the digital trade， China has been growing faster in this field and leading the world in terms of its scale and growth rate of digital trade.

The 2021 Digital Trade Development Forum with the theme of “digital trade powering the new global trade landscape” was held recently. Government agencies， industry associations， consulting and research institutions， multinational corporations and enterprises of the industry made in-depth discussions at the forum. This event also became a platform for people to carry out international exchanges， share Chinas advanced experience and cutting-edge opinions.

Proportion of digital trade rises

Today， Chinas status as a digital trade power is unquestionable. The 2021 Report of Global Digital Trade and China Development showed that with the accelerated innovation of digital technologies such as the internet， big data and cloud computing， Chinas digital economy is showing a positive trend of vigorous development. Chinas status as a big digital trade country is consolidated and it has become one of the top ten digital trade economies in the world.

Liu Zuozhang， Deputy Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Investment， said that digital trade is an important field of international economic and trade cooperation. China has strong indus- trial technology， active digital economy innovation and clear-cut advantages in developing digital service trade. China has led the world in terms of digital infrastructure， including the internet， wireless broadband and mobile terminals. Other leading technologies include 5G， super computing and quantum communication. New business models and technologies have also been growing in scale， which have laid a solid foundation for the development of digital trade. In this regard， Liu Zuozhang said that Chinas 14th Five-Year Plan proposes to innovate and develop service trade and improve the digitization of trade. China will make further efforts to benchmark international highlevel economic and trade rules， promote institutional opening in the digital field， actively build a pilot field for the development of digital trade， create a digital trade demonstration zone， vigorously promote digital trade， actively carry out international cooperation in digital trade， accelerate the transformation and upgrading of service outsourcing， comprehensively promote the export of services with characteristics and advantages， and work more closely with countries and regions around the world to share development opportunities of digital trade. On top of this， China shall enhance cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road region in digital trade， to share the technological outcome of Chinas service outsourcing and build a better future for the digital economy.

Zhong Mingbo， Director of the Beijing Haidian Service Trade and Service Outsourcing Enterprise Association， also has things to say on this matter. He said that the world social economy is meeting the impact from two huge challenges， including the COVID-19 pandemic and digital transition. The two challenges interact and act on each other and have penetrated into almost all walks of the political economy， cultural society and daily lives of world countries， changing the world greatly. In the post-pandemic era， as the digital economy grows strongly， the proportion of digital economy in the service trade will keep rising and showing more importance. This will become more pronounced in China. In the future decade and longer stage of history， Chinas digital economy will undergo faster and more comprehensive development.

Yvonne Zhou， Managing Director & Senior Partner of BCG and head of Public Sector Practice in AsiaPacific region， also has optimistic view about Chinas digital trade future. She said that digitization and a low-carbon economy will be two important trends in the development of service trade in the future， especially for China. Emerging digital technologies will lead the fourth globalization and bring macro opportunities for China to develop the digital service trade. In the future， it will be a top priority to focus on high-end value fields and links and improve the export structure of digital service trade. China should promote domestic leading digital service enterprises to play the role of leaders and upgrade the business towards highvalue segments and links. Meanwhile， the green economy will become highlight of the service trade. Chinas goal of “double carbon” shows the responsibility and determination of a responsible big country. The provision of green professional services will become the highlight in Chinas service trade in the future. The application of green intelligent manufacturing， green science and technology， and the acceleration of information technology and industrial digitization will form more growth poles in the future.

Huang Chenhong， Global Executive Vice President， SAP SE and President， SAP Greater China， said that the era of digitization has changed the logic of trade， and the bearing form of new enterprises is “digital ecological symbiosis”. “Digitization can not only improve corporate efficiency and reduce costs， but also integrate people all over the world，” said Huang Chenhong.

Share opportunities with China

In fact， countries have also shifted development focus on digital trade and are willing to share these opportunities with China.

Jose Santiago L. Sta. Romana， Philippines Ambassador to China， said that in the past 15 years， the growth rate of China GDP is 2.5 times that of the global GDP. China is one of the Philippines most important trade and investment partners. As the bilateral relationship further improves， China will leverage its leading capabilities in the digital economy to work with the Philippines and achieve better growth. For Chinese enterprises， the Philippines is a huge market. It is hoped that enterprises of both countries shall work more closely to promote the development of the digital economy of both countries.

Atul Dalakoti， Executive Director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry， said that China and India are very important BRICs countries as China has become the second largest economy and India has become the third largest economy in the world. China has world-class infrastructure that the world envies. All BRICs countries could work together in fields of AI， big data， 5g， high-speed railway， high-speed subway， infrastructure， ports， airports and bridges， which will bring more opportunities to both China and India. India needs to develop its infrastructure as soon as possible to really accelerate its economic transition.

Han Xia， Chief Engineer of the Ministry of industry and Information Technology， said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will enhance research of key technologies， implement the innovation-driven development strategy， and strive to build a safe and controllable industrial chain and supply chain； we shall enhance the construction of digital infrastructure， implement the action plans of “dual Gigabit” network coordinated development and “5g application sailing”， and build a high-quality network service system to provide strong support for the innovative development of digital trade； we shall actively guide the digital transformation of enterprises， carry out the digital transformation of manufacturing industry and the digital empowerment of small and mediumsized enterprises， and comprehensively deepen the digital application； we shall actively participate in the formulation of rules of global digital economy and digital trade governance， and contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to the development of global digital economy.

The forum also witnessed the release of the promotion list of “2021 key enterprises in the service trade”， recommending 59 enterprises， including Beijing Iqiyi Technology Co.， Ltd.， Beijing Peking University Founder Electronics Co.， Ltd.， Boyan Technology Co.， Ltd.， Renmin University Press， and Perfect World （Beijing） Software Technology Development Co.， Ltd. Mentioned companies cover many fields including information industry， publishing and power engineering. The purpose of the list is to help Chinese service trade enterprises explore the international market and seek new opportunities for development.