It is estimated that the overall scale of China's digital economy has exceeded 50 trillion RMB. Meanwhile, the size of the country's online retail market has ranked first in the world for nine consecutive years, and the revenue of software and information services reached 10.8 trillion RMB, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

　　In recent years, the digital economy has played an important role in promoting economic growth, improving development quality and efficiency, said Cong Liang, vice chairman of the NDRC at the recent Global Digital Economy Conference.

　　Infrastructure has been continuously upgraded. By the end of May this year, more than 2.8 million 5G base stations had been built, and the computing infrastructure was world class. China now has more than two billion cellular IoT end users and the largest volume of IPv6 address resources in the world, said Wang Jiangping, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

　　The integration of the digital economy and the real economy is driving the digital transformation of traditional industries. The computer numerical control rate of key processes in major industrial enterprises has reached 59.4 percent, and more than 62,000 enterprises have digitalized their management systems, and built more than 1,700 digital workshops and smart factories, according to MIIT. And, while improving efficiency, digital technology is promoting the green transformation of industries, by reducing energy consumption and accurately monitoring the environment.

　　More importantly, the application of digital technology in agriculture, education and health sector has largely improved public welfare, and provided more opportunities for development to people domestically and internationally. In 2017, the Digital Silk Road was proposed to create a broader space for cooperation in the development of digital economy among countries along the Belt and Road.

　　To date, China has signed MoUs on Digital Silk Road cooperation with 17 countries, established the Silk Road E-commerce bilateral cooperation mechanism with 23 countries, and built 34 cross-border land cables and several international submarine cables with neighboring countries.