[Commentary] On September 17, the State Information Office held a press conference on the Digital China Construction Summit.

At the meeting, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced China's digital development.

　　[Explanation] In the 2020 new crown pneumonia epidemic, the digital economy has played a big role.

Shen Zhulin, head of the High-tech Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that from health codes and online classrooms to expos held in the cloud, the digital economy is always changing our lives and our jobs.

　　[Concurrent] Shen Zhulin, Head of the Department of Innovation and High-Tech Development, National Development and Reform Commission

　　From some recent market and statistical data, we can also confirm the good momentum of the development of the digital economy.

By August, online retail sales of (physical goods) increased by 15.8% year-on-year, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total retail sales of consumer goods in society. This also shows that my country's digital economy has played an important role in stimulating consumption potential and cultivating and expanding the market. At the same time, some new business formats and new models have introduced more social capital investment, which has promoted some Internet platform companies (in the first half of the year) to achieve business income of more than 170 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%.

　　[Explanation] The Internet, big data, artificial intelligence...These new generations of information technologies are becoming more and more rapidly integrated with the real economy.

Xie Shaofeng, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that in recent years, China's manufacturing industry has accelerated its development towards digitalization, networking, and intelligence, which has promoted fundamental changes in production methods and corporate forms.

　　[Concurrent] Xie Shaofeng, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Director of the Information Technology Development Department

　　From January to July this year (2020), under the influence of the epidemic, the revenue of the software business reached 4.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%.

　　New models such as digital management, intelligent production, networked collaboration, personalized customization, and service-oriented extension have accelerated their popularization.

As of June this year, the national industrial e-commerce penetration rate has reached 63%, and the penetration rate of dual innovation platforms in key manufacturing industries has exceeded 84%.

　　[Explanation] A reporter asked at the meeting that the number of Chinese rural Internet users is 255 million, and the Internet penetration rate in rural areas is 46.3%. How can we narrow the gap in Internet penetration between urban and rural areas?

In response to this, Yang Xiaowei, deputy director of the State Cyberspace Administration of China, introduced that relevant state departments have implemented the "Broadband China" strategy in depth and carried out the following tasks:

　　[Concurrent] Yang Xiaowei, Deputy Director of the National Internet Information Office

　　One is to improve the level of network coverage.

The fifth batch of telecommunications universal service pilot projects have supported the construction of optical fiber networks in 43,000 poor villages and the construction of 4G (base station) in 9,200 poor villages.

At present, the ratio of optical fiber and 4G in administrative villages across the country has exceeded 98%. Basically, the optical fiber reach rate and 4G coverage rate have achieved the same between urban and rural areas.

　　The second is to reduce the level of tariffs.

Relevant departments strongly supported basic telecom operators to reduce their tariff levels, benefiting more than 12 million (households) of poor people.

　　[Explanation] Yang Xiaowei said that at present, relevant departments are preparing to launch the sixth batch of pilot work for universal telecommunications services, aiming at the same speed in rural, urban and rural areas, and continue to improve the fiber and 4G network coverage of administrative villages, especially poor villages. Level, truly realize the undifferentiated enjoyment of services.

　　Reporter Wen Mengxin reports from Beijing

Editor in charge: [Wang Kai]