Overseas individuals discuss the development of China's digital economy
Online courses, cloud office, online consumption... Since the COVID-19, China's digital economy has continued to contribute to epidemic prevention and control and economic development. International observers point out that the development of the digital economy will not only provide new momentum for the Chinese economy, but also help with the recovery and development of the world economy.
The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has highlighted the importance of the development of the digital economy. German Bertelsmann Foundation economist Tis Petersen believes that over the years, digital technology has been increasingly used in enterprise production, and the pandemic will accelerate the trend of digital development. He stated that the increasing use of digital technologies such as robots and automation may reduce the risk of production stoppage during the next outbreak of human epidemics.
The Economist recently published an article pointing out that the global large-scale household segregation caused by the COVID-19 makes the digital demand of the financial industry more urgent. Thanks to the highly cashless economic environment and huge domestic market, Chinese companies are emerging in the global software and hardware competition of mobile payments. According to statistics, the total amount of mobile payments made by Chinese consumers reached an astonishing $49 trillion in 2019, which is 35 times that of 2013.
China's huge mobile Internet user base and developed platform economy ensured the basic needs of consumers during the epidemic and resisted the impact of the epidemic on the offline economy; Cloud based office provides new channels for resuming work and classes; New technologies such as scanning "codes" for epidemic prevention, remote consultations, and artificial intelligence make epidemic prevention and diagnosis more efficient and accurate. Digital technology has provided strong technological support for China's major strategic achievements in epidemic prevention and control, and has also provided valuable experience for other countries to respond to the epidemic.
Professor Tomio Marukawa from the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Tokyo in Japan stated that in the face of the pandemic, China quickly adapted to the new situation and rapidly applied digital technologies such as online services to the fight against the epidemic. In the past, China hoped that Japan's high-tech would be transferred to China, and in the future, we also hope that China's high-tech can be transferred to Japan
Hans Hendrischke, a professor at the Business School of the University of Sydney in Australia, said, "China's domestic consumer demand and innovation demand in the field of intelligent infrastructure are both conducive to the rapid recovery of the Chinese economy after the epidemic. In the future, China's competitiveness in the global digital economy will also be enhanced
Renowned Finnish scholar Carl Fei also stated that the Chinese government's increased investment in "new infrastructure", represented by 5G networks, is highly targeted and will not only help create more job opportunities, but also promote the deepening of China's economic structural reform.
Observers believe that the flourishing new formats and models that have emerged in China's digital economy since the outbreak of the epidemic may seem like an "emergency measure", but in fact reflect the "accumulation and gradual development" of China's digital economy over the years. In the future, the Chinese economy with improved quality and efficiency will have a greater impact on the world economy.
According to the China Internet Development Report 2019, in 2018, China's digital economy reached 31.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 34.8% of GDP. The digital economy has become a new engine of China's economic growth.
Adam Posen, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a well-known think tank in the United States, believes that China's actual economic status will be further enhanced after the pandemic.
Andrei Goncharuk, Senior Researcher at the Ukrainian National Institute of Strategic Studies, stated that the future growth of China and the world economy will mainly come from innovation and the application of new technologies. Goncharuk believes that China's contribution in the field of new technologies will be even greater in the future. It can be foreseen that this epidemic will have an impact on the world order, and China's influence will further strengthen after the epidemic
For all major economies around the world, the world has changed, "said Stephen Roach, a senior researcher at Yale University in the United States." In the future, global growth will place more emphasis on quality rather than speed, and the quality of economic growth will be "more important than ever".
(Participating journalists: Zhu Sheng, Liu Chunyan, Hao Yalin, Guo Yang, Zhu Haochen, Xu Yuan, Deng Xianlai, Gao Pan, Hu Yousong, Li Dongxu)
