The 2022 Global Digital Economy Conference opened at the China National Convention Center on the afternoon of July 29th. Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, declared it open. Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Beijing, delivered a speech, while Yin Yong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee attended the conference.
During his speech, Chen Jining expressed heartfelt thanks to people from all walks of life for their care and support for Beijing's development. He emphasised that Beijing is a leading innovator and industry pioneer in China's digital development with outstanding advantages in technology, talents, and industrial ecology in the digital economy. This provides strong momentum in building Beijing into a model city for the global digital economy. To achieve this, Beijing will promote digital-enabled industries through the thorough implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions. Efforts will be made to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, accelerate the construction of new infrastructure, promote industrial digitalization and digital industrialization, and build a digital industry cluster with international competitiveness.
Furthermore, Beijing will promote digital-enabled cities, consolidating its digital infrastructure in the city and striving to build a new global smart city. The city will promote digital-enabled lives by advancing smart transportation, medical care, and life, enabling better services and people's livelihoods through digital technology. In addition, deepening international cooperation in the digital field can combine with the development of the "two zones". The city is encouraged to align with international high-standard Free Trade Agreements and take the lead in exploring transborder data and market-based allocation of data factors. This will create a demonstration zone for digital trade and foster an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy.
The Conference is declared open.
Prior to the Opening Ceremony, attending leaders and guests visited the Boutique Theme Exhibition and the "New Era Opens Here" Metaverse Exhibition. They exchanged ideas with representatives from leading digital economy companies to learn about the achievements of digital technology innovation and the digital economy. Themed "Embrace a Digital Future: New Factors, New Rules, New Patterns", the Conference focuses on new trends and hotspots in the digital economy. The event combines online and offline activities, as well as virtuality and reality. Apart from the Opening Ceremony & Main Forum, the event includes six themed summits, nearly 50 specialized forums, as well as special activities such as the Beijing Digital Economy Experience Week, Boutique Theme Exhibition, Innovation Competition, and Achievement Release Conference.
Visiting Boutique Theme Exhibition
Cao Shumin, Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and Vice Minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, and Xu Kemin, Chief Economist of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, delivered speeches at the Opening Ceremony. Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups of the Republic of Korea, Florian Tursky, State Secretary of the Austrian Ministry of Finance, Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, and other guests from both China and abroad, addressed via video. Those who participated in the Conference online and offline also included leaders from relevant ministries and commissions of China, Beijing municipality and Lhasa municipality of Tibet Autonomous Region, some foreign envoys to China, the heads of enterprises, colleges, institutions and associations, as well as experts and scholars in and out of China.
(Written by Qi Mengzhu, Fan Junsheng)
