"We will promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, strive for the added value of core digital economy industries to grow by around 9% for the year, and achieve full coverage of digital transformation of industrial enterprises above designated size." Wang Hao, Governor of Zhejiang Province, made these remarks on the 23rd while delivering a report on the province's economic and social development in the first half of the year and the government's work in the second half at the 11th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress in Hangzhou.

The 11th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress. Photo by Tu Yiqin

Industry is the "ballast stone" for stabilizing economic growth, and the digital economy is a "golden名片" (golden calling card) of Zhejiang. When the two are combined, Zhejiang regards the digital transformation of industrial enterprises as a key part of industrial optimization and upgrading, and continues to advance "vacating the cage for new birds and phoenix nirvana" (replacing outdated capacity with new growth drivers).

According to the meeting, in the first half of 2024, the added value of 17 key traditional manufacturing industries in Zhejiang grew by 9.6%, and the digital transformation coverage rate of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 79.4%.

In fact, advancing full coverage of digital transformation of industrial enterprises above designated size is also a main focus of Zhejiang's efforts to promote equipment renewal in the industrial sector and trade-in of consumer goods.

In April this year, the "2024 Key Task List for Zhejiang Province to Promote Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-In of Consumer Goods" proposed "achieving full coverage of digital transformation of industrial enterprises above designated size by 2027."

The digital economy is an important part of future industries. In the first half of the year, Zhejiang issued policy opinions on promoting high-quality development of artificial intelligence and the construction of a new computing power system; the National Artificial Intelligence Training Ground was successfully established in Hangzhou; and the manufacturing industry of core digital economy industries grew by 7.2%.

It is understood that in the second half of the year, Zhejiang aims for its main economic indicators to continue to be higher than the national level, with GDP growth of more than 5.5%. Among the government's key tasks, the digital economy appears in multiple aspects.

For example, in stabilizing industry and improving efficiency, the province will strengthen the cultivation of "415X" advanced manufacturing clusters and optimize and strengthen emerging industrial clusters such as integrated circuits and high-end software; in expanding high-level opening up, the province will vigorously develop digital trade, host the Global Digital Trade Expo well, and implement a new round of action plans for high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce; in stimulating consumption potential, Zhejiang will make greater efforts to cultivate new types of consumption and create new business forms such as digital consumption...

Zhejiang also proposed to strive to promote high-quality development of the service industry and cultivate new advantages in the digital economy. Specifically, the province will formulate and issue special policies to promote the upgrading of the software and information service industry, and optimize the development environment of the platform economy and support platform enterprises in pursuing specialized and differentiated development.