​Jinan accelerates digital government construction

Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, has made great progress in the construction of its digital government in recent years.

The one-stop online service models have been launched in the city, moving market-based reform measures and public services from offline to online. More than 99 percent of the city's government service items can be handled online.

An integrated blockchain platform, named "Quanchenglian", was established in September 2020, which has greatly improved government services.

The platform currently involves 180 items covering household registration, marriage, provident fund, social security, and electronic certificates. Data security and personal privacy area also protected with the support of blockchain technology.

According to a recent investigation by local government, among 354 residents surveyed, 74.6 percent benefited from digital government services.

Among all the services, the daily living payment as well as the social security inquiry and handling services accounted for 88.6 percent and 74.2 percent of the total items, respectively, which was much higher than others.

For respondents, 94.7 percent of residents preferred online government services. Most of them agreed that online government services can help raise administrative efficiency, reduce rent-seeking time, and bring more convenience to people and market entities.

For companies that have used the digital platforms, 81.2 percent of them believed that online services simplify approval procedures and shorten the approval time.

Moreover, the booming digital industry has also promoted the city to enhance the capability of digital government services.

Jinan has been recognized as China's leading city in smart city development for four consecutive years, and is the only city in China to win this award.

The city's digital economy accounted for 45 percent of its GDP. The added value of the core industry of the digital economy accounted for 16 percent of the GDP, 10 percentage points higher than the provincial average, ranking first in Shandong.

The income of the city's software industry reached 380.3 billion yuan ($59.67 billion) in 2021, rising 20.3 percent year-on-year. More than 27,000 5G base stations have been installed, as well as 76 5G industry pilot demonstration projects at the provincial level have been constructed.