Widening the development track of digital trade

The Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development clearly proposes to innovate and develop digital trade, and orderly expand the opening up of the digital field. As a new form of trade, digital trade is an inevitable choice to promote its reform, innovation, and development in line with the trend of the times. It is also an important measure to form new functions and advantages in foreign trade, expand the international trade market space, and stabilize the basic structure of foreign trade.

Digital trade has become the new engine of international trade today. This trade method is supported by digital technology, with data as the key element, digital services as the core, and data ordering and delivery as the main features. Many countries have regarded the development of digital trade as an important means of expanding international markets and supporting economic development. According to the report released by the Fourth Global Digital Trade Expo, from 2020 to 2024, the scale of global digital trade exports has steadily increased, from 4.59 trillion dollars to 7.23 trillion dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 12.1%, higher than the average annual growth rate of global total trade in the same period.

China has always actively followed the trend of digital transformation in trade, and digital trade has shown a rapid growth trend. In the future, further development of digital trade should adhere to strengthening top-level design and improving the policy support system for digital trade. Establish a coordinated leadership structure for the development of digital trade at the national level, promote cross departmental policy coordination, and provide policy support for the development of digital trade. Draw a strategic vision for the development of digital trade, comprehensively plan and formulate goals, paths, key areas, and policy content for the development of digital trade, guide resource allocation, and provide resource guarantees for the development of digital trade. At the institutional level, promote legislation or legal revisions, including strengthening laws and regulations on intellectual property protection, to provide legal basis for the development of digital trade.

Support industry university research cooperation and enhance the international competitiveness of digital trade enterprises. Mastering core digital technologies and developing technological innovation capabilities are key to enhancing a company's international competitiveness. Supporting cooperation among enterprises, universities, and research institutions to jointly develop digital technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things, breaking through a number of key core technologies, and providing technical support to ensure that China's digital product production enterprises and digital service providers gain competitive advantages in international competition.

Optimize the education and training mechanism, and expand the team of digital trade talents. Support relevant universities and vocational colleges to offer majors and courses related to digital trade, cultivate a group of compound talents who not only understand digital technology but are also familiar with international rules and market environment, as well as possess cross-cultural communication and innovation abilities. Encourage cooperation between schools, enterprises, and colleges to carry out joint training of industry, academia, and research, and improve the pertinence and practicality of talent cultivation. Strengthen training and continuing education. Local governments can implement digital trade talent training projects such as e-commerce training, providing systematic training on digital trade knowledge and skills to digital trade practitioners at different levels and in different fields, and improving the digital literacy and professional skills of relevant personnel.

Implement the integration of international trade rules and activate the digital trade market. The digital trade agreement is conducive to regulating and promoting the development of digital trade. As an important participant in global digital trade, China has been actively involved in the negotiation and signing of digital trade agreements. At present, it has joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and is applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement. We should also strengthen communication and cooperation with international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, and other countries, actively participate in and promote WTO e-commerce rule negotiations, and provide Chinese solutions for promoting the establishment of a fair, reasonable, and transparent international digital trade rule system. (Author: Pingli Qun Tian Xianglan)