Digital economy a hot topic for Zhejiang at national two sessions

The economy in East China's Zhejiang province is gaining more vitality amidst the local government's pursuit of high-quality development with the digital economy being an important driving force.

Since 2018, the digital economy has been regarded as the "No 1 Project" by Zhejiang government. Last year, the core industries of the digital economy in the province witnessed a growth of 13.1 percent in added value.

To further advance the digital economy and to make Zhejiang a leading region in China, Zhejiang deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) shared their views at the ongoing two sessions in Beijing.

"The goal of developing the digital economy is to boost the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry by deeply integrating new information technologies and the real economy," said Ye Xinhua, an NPC deputy and general manager of Zhejiang Yuanli Metal Product Group Co Ltd.

Ye concluded this from the development course of Yuanli. In recent years, the group has invested millions of yuan in the improvement of smart manufacturing. "Traditional industries have to exploit the power of the digital economy for their upgrading," added the manager.

Zhang Shifang, director of Ningbo Municipal Economic and Information Technology Committee and a deputy to the 13th NPC, remarked that if Chinese industries hope to have a position in the middle and high end of the international value chain, they have to seek productivity from the digital economy.

Actually, the digitalization in Zhejiang is not just happening in industries, but is covering every aspect of the society and has benefitted each family.

Xie Shuangcheng, a national CPPCC member and vice mayor of Hangzhou, said that he made a proposal about accelerating the building of smart homes to this year's two sessions. Smart homes refer to the integration and connectivity of digital technologies and services in the home environment. "It is of great significance to improving people's livelihoods," said Xie.

Chen Xiaoping, director of the Zhejiang Committee of China National Democratic Construction Association, proposed to build an all-round mechanism to ensure cyber security in an increasingly transparent online environment.

"To maintain sustainable development of digital economy needs our extra attention on the prevention and control of network security," said Chen.