The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have issued the “Overall Layout Plan for Building Digital China.”

　　BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the “Overall Layout Plan for Building a Digital China” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”) and circulated a notice calling on all regions and departments to conscientiously implement it in light of their specific circumstances.

　　The Plan states that building a Digital China is a key engine for advancing Chinese modernization in the digital era and a robust pillar for forging new national competitive advantages. Accelerating the development of Digital China holds significant importance and far-reaching implications for comprehensively building a modern socialist country and for fully promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, particularly General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important ideas on building a cyber power; to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China; to uphold the overarching principle of seeking progress while ensuring stability; to fully, accurately, and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy; to accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm; to focus on promoting high-quality development; to coordinate development and security; to strengthen systems thinking and bottom-line thinking; and to enhance overall planning. Following a strategic roadmap that consolidates foundations, empowers the broader economy, strengthens capabilities, and optimizes the environment, the Plan seeks to comprehensively elevate the integrality, systematic nature, and synergy of Digital China construction, foster deep integration between the digital economy and the real economy, and leverage digitalization to drive transformative changes in production, daily life, and governance, thereby injecting powerful momentum into the comprehensive advancement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.

　　The Plan sets forth that by 2025, a unified advancement framework—characterized by horizontal integration, vertical connectivity, and robust coordination—will be essentially in place, and significant progress will have been made in building Digital China. Digital infrastructure will be efficiently interconnected; the scale and quality of data resources will accelerate; the value of data as a factor of production will be effectively unlocked; the quality and efficiency of the digital economy will be markedly enhanced; the level of digitalization and intelligent governance will see a clear improvement; digital cultural development will reach a new height; and notable results will be achieved in making digital society more precise, inclusive, and convenient. Meanwhile, positive strides will be made in building a digital ecological civilization, major breakthroughs will be realized in digital technology innovation, application‑driven innovation will remain globally leading, digital security capabilities will be comprehensively strengthened, the digital governance system will be further refined, and international cooperation in the digital sphere will enter a new phase. By 2035, China’s level of digital development will rank among the world’s highest, and substantial achievements will have been attained in building Digital China. The systematic layout for this endeavor will be even more scientific and comprehensive, with more balanced and robust digital transformation across economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological‑civilization domains, thereby providing strong support for the all‑round construction of a modern socialist country.

　　The Plan specifies that the development of Digital China will be structured around a comprehensive “2-5-2-2” framework: consolidating the two foundational pillars of digital infrastructure and a data‑resource system; advancing the integrated, five‑pronged convergence of digital technologies with economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological‑civilization development; strengthening the two key capabilities of a digital‑innovation system and a digital‑security safeguard; and optimizing the domestic and international environments for digital development.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to consolidate the foundations of Digital China. First, it calls for unblocking the major arteries of digital infrastructure: accelerating the coordinated development of 5G networks and gigabit optical networks; deepening the large-scale deployment and application of IPv6; promoting the comprehensive development of mobile IoT; and vigorously advancing the large-scale application of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. It also advocates systematically optimizing the layout of computing power infrastructure, fostering efficient complementarity and coordinated interconnection between eastern and western regions, and guiding the rational, tiered placement of general-purpose data centers, supercomputing centers, intelligent computing centers, and edge data centers. Furthermore, it seeks to comprehensively upgrade application‑level infrastructure and strengthen the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional infrastructure. Second, it aims to ensure the smooth circulation of data resources by establishing a national data governance framework and improving data coordination bodies at all levels. It will promote the aggregation and utilization of public data, build national data repositories in key sectors such as public health, science and technology, and education, unlock the value potential of commercial data, accelerate the establishment of a data property rights system, conduct research on data asset valuation, and put in place a mechanism for allocating data‑related factors of production based on their respective contributions to value.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to comprehensively empower economic and social development. First, it calls for strengthening, optimizing, and expanding the digital economy. This involves fostering and scaling up core industries of the digital economy, formulating measures to promote high-quality development of the digital sector, and building internationally competitive digital industry clusters. It also seeks to deepen the integration of digital technologies with the real economy, accelerating the innovation and application of digital technologies in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, finance, education, healthcare, transportation, and energy. Support will be provided to help digital enterprises grow stronger, mechanisms for integrated innovation among large, medium, and small enterprises will be improved, “green‑light” investment cases will serve as guiding examples, and platform enterprises will be encouraged to develop in a standardized and healthy manner. Second, it advocates for developing efficient and coordinated digital governance. This entails speeding up institutional and regulatory innovation, refining rules and regulations that align with digital government initiatives, and bolstering digital capacity-building to facilitate seamless interconnection of information systems and networks, on-demand data sharing, and streamlined cross‑departmental collaboration. Efforts will be made to enhance the quality of digital public services, accelerate the implementation of the “one‑stop service for one matter” model, integrate online and offline channels, and strengthen and standardize the management of government mobile internet applications. Third, it aims to cultivate a confident and thriving digital culture. This includes vigorously developing online cultural offerings, increasing the supply of high‑quality digital cultural products, and guiding platforms and users to create positive, healthy, and morally uplifting digital content. It also calls for advancing the digitalization of culture by implementing the National Cultural Digitalization Strategy, establishing a national cultural big‑data system, and building a database of Chinese culture. Furthermore, it seeks to improve digital cultural service capabilities by creating several comprehensive digital cultural exhibition platforms and accelerating the development of new types of cultural enterprises, business models, and consumption patterns. Fourth, it endeavors to build an inclusive and convenient digital society. This involves making digital public services more universally accessible, vigorously implementing the National Education Digitalization Strategy, upgrading the National Smart Education Platform, promoting digital health, and regulating the development of online medical diagnosis and internet hospitals. It also seeks to advance precision‑based digital governance, deeply implementing the Digital Rural Development Initiative to leverage digital tools for rural industrial development, rural construction, and rural governance. Finally, it aims to popularize intelligent digital lifestyles by creating smart, citizen‑friendly living circles, pioneering new forms of digital consumption, and delivering future‑oriented, immersive, intelligent service experiences. Fifth, it focuses on constructing a green and smart digital ecological civilization. This includes promoting smart governance of the ecological environment, expediting the establishment of an intelligent and efficient ecological information system, employing digital technologies to advance integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, improving the three‑dimensional “single map” of natural resources and the national land‑space basic information platform, and building a smart water‑management system centered on digital twin river basins. It also calls for accelerating the coordinated transformation toward digitalization and greening, while advocating for a green and smart way of life.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to strengthen China’s critical capabilities in the digital realm. First, it calls for building a self-reliant and robust system of digital technology innovation. This entails improving the new national‑level mechanism for tackling key core technologies under the socialist market economy, and deepening industry–university–research collaboration led by enterprises. It also seeks to reinforce the primary role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation and leverage the leading and supporting functions of technology‑driven backbone firms. Furthermore, it aims to enhance intellectual property protection and refine mechanisms for the equitable distribution of benefits derived from IP commercialization. Second, it underscores the importance of establishing a trustworthy and controllable digital security barrier. This involves effectively safeguarding cybersecurity, refining the legal and policy framework for cybersecurity, and bolstering data security capabilities. It further requires instituting a foundational system for classifying and grading data for protection, as well as improving the networked data monitoring, early‑warning, and emergency response frameworks.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to optimize the environment for digital development. First, it calls for building a fair and standardized digital governance ecosystem. This involves improving the legal and regulatory framework, strengthening coordinated legislative efforts, formulating a legislative roadmap for the digital sector, and promptly revising laws and regulations that no longer align with digital development in accordance with established procedures. It also entails establishing a technical standards system, developing guidelines for standardization work in the digital domain, and accelerating the formulation and revision of application‑oriented standards covering digital transformation across industries and the integrated development of cross‑sectoral industries. Furthermore, it seeks to elevate governance capabilities by refining the comprehensive network governance system, enhancing all‑round, multi‑dimensional governance capacity, and creating a scientific, efficient, and well‑organized framework for governing the internet. To purify cyberspace, the plan advocates deepening efforts in online ecological governance, advancing specialized campaigns such as “Qinglang” and “Clean Internet,” and innovatively promoting the cultivation of online civility. Second, the Plan aims to establish an open, mutually beneficial international cooperation framework in the digital sphere. This requires strategic planning for international collaboration in the digital field, setting up a system of international exchanges and cooperation that features multi‑level coordination, multi‑platform support, and broad participation from diverse stakeholders. It also calls for high‑quality joint construction of the “Digital Silk Road” and the proactive development of “Silk Road e‑commerce.” Additionally, it seeks to expand space for international cooperation in the digital realm by actively engaging in multilateral platforms under the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G20, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and others; to build new, open platforms for digital cooperation of high quality; and to participate in the formulation of relevant international rules on cross‑border data flows.

　　The Plan emphasizes the need to strengthen overall planning and coordinated advancement, ensuring that all tasks are effectively implemented. First, it calls for reinforced organizational leadership: upholding and strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the development of Digital China; under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Cybersecurity and Informatization Commission will enhance coordination, holistic promotion, and oversight of implementation. Local Party committees’ cybersecurity and informatization commissions should be fully leveraged, with robust consultation and coordination mechanisms established, placing digital development high on the regional agenda and ensuring accountability. Relevant departments, in accordance with their respective responsibilities, will refine policies and measures, strengthen resource integration and inter‑agency synergy, and forge concerted efforts. Second, it advocates for a sound institutional framework: establishing and improving a unified coordination mechanism for Digital China construction, promptly addressing major issues in digital development, fostering cross‑departmental collaboration and vertical alignment, and ensuring effective follow‑up on key tasks and major projects. Monitoring and evaluation of Digital China’s progress will be conducted, and the status of Digital China initiatives will serve as a reference in assessing and evaluating leading cadres. Third, it seeks to secure adequate funding: innovating financing support mechanisms and enhancing the coordinated guidance of various funds. Leveraging platforms such as the National Industry–Finance Cooperation Platform, financial resources will be channeled to bolster digital development. Capital will be encouraged to participate in Digital China construction in a regulated manner, building an investment and financing system that facilitates effective engagement by social capital. Fourth, it underscores the importance of talent development: enhancing the digital mindset, digital literacy, and digital skills of leading cadres and civil servants; strategically developing a portfolio of digital‑focused academic programs and specialties to cultivate innovative, application‑oriented, and multidisciplinary talent; and establishing a nationwide, urban–rural integrated framework for fostering digital literacy and skills. Fifth, it aims to foster a conducive environment: encouraging universities, research institutions, enterprises, and other stakeholders to jointly contribute to Digital China, and setting up a network of Digital China research bases. Comprehensive pilot projects will be launched to integrate and advance reform experiments, while major events such as the Digital China Summit will be organized, alongside high‑profile domestic and international competitions in digital fields, thereby deepening public understanding of digital concepts and cultivating a positive atmosphere of widespread attention and active participation in Digital China.

Source: Xinhua Net