China selects pilot cities to digitally transform smaller businesses

BEIJING -- China will select 30 cities in 2023 as sites to pilot the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises to kick start a trial program slated through 2025, according to a circular made public on Wednesday.

The move targets cities as the actor in supporting the digital transformation of SMEs, leveraging the local governments' knowledge of industries and companies, said the document jointly released by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

It will also consolidate the firms' principal position in digital transformation and help strengthen their core competitiveness, the document said.

The pilot cities, at or above the prefecture level, will each receive a fixed-amount bonus from the central government for the two-year pilots. More cities could join the program after 2023, per the document.