The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2020 indicated that vigorously developing the digital economy has been identified as one of the key economic tasks for this year. In recent years, the new generation of information technology represented by big data and artificial intelligence has developed rapidly, and the digital economy has become an important engine for global economic and social transformation and the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.

The agricultural economy and industrial economy use land, labor and capital as key production factors while the digital economy uses data as the key production factor. Data-driven, software-defined, platform-supported, intelligent-led and value-driven products and services have enabled the digital economy to grow rapidly. In 2019, the digital economy accounted for about 36.2 percent of China's GDP, and its contribution to GDP growth was 67.7 percent.

The vigorous development of the digital economy has greatly promoted the formation of a unified consumer market and the modernization of the retail industry. China has become the world's largest e-commerce market. This has laid a solid foundation for advancing dual circulation development.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), it is necessary to seize the opportunities of the digital economy. The government should increase its investment in 5G networks, so as to turn China's complete industrial system into a digital dividend. The digital economy and the real economy should be more deeply integrated to raise the general productivity of all.

New industries such as smart agriculture, smart tourism and smart logistics can be relied on to help push the further development of rural regions, and fully exploit the consumption potential of residents. The scarcity of education, medicine, and elder care resources can also be better addressed by providing online education and medical services and smart elder care services.

To develop the digital economy, it is necessary to strengthen technological innovation and encourage disruptive digital technological innovations. It is also necessary to propel the supply-side reform of the labor market so as to cultivate more talents with both industrial and digital skills.

New rules must be drawn up for the digital economy, so as to promote innovations by small and medium-sized enterprises and allow the whole society to share the fruits of the digital economy.