Integration of digital, real economy creates impetus

China will make more efforts to facilitate the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, in order to advance new industrialization and deliver greater impetus to the nation's economic growth, said a top official and experts.

In an article published on Tuesday in People's Daily, Jin Zhuanglong, minister of industry and information technology, said it is necessary to place the deep integration of the digital and real economies in a "strategically important" position to fully unleash the multiplication effects of the country's manufacturing prowess.

Jin said that countries and regions around the world are strengthening their forward-looking strategies in the industrial sector, while global competition in the digital sector is becoming increasingly fierce.

To meet the trend, China will promote a "higher-end, smarter and greener" manufacturing sector, and accelerate the upgrading of traditional industries, expansion of emerging industries and development of future industries, he said.

On Tuesday, Chinese electric vehicle maker Avatr announced that it is buying a 10 percent stake in an auto subsidiary of Huawei Technologies for 11.5 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).

Avatr is an emerging EV brand backed by established carmaker Changan Automobile, tech giant Huawei and lithium-ion battery manufacturer and service provider Contemporary Amperex Technology.

Industry experts believe that the move is a clear example of how Chinese companies are leveraging the benefits of digital technologies to drive the conventional auto sector toward a "higher-end, smarter and greener" finish line.

Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said that Avatr represents the high-end growth direction of vehicles, and its investment will enhance Changan's brand stature and facilitate its transformation into an intelligent, low-carbon mobility technology company.

"It is a vibrant example of developing an open platform for collective participation to drive the country's auto industry," he said.

Xu Zhijun, Huawei's rotating chairman, said its auto subsidiary will continue to open equity investment to strategic partners, as the company hopes to facilitate the rise of China's auto industry and ensure its intelligent transformation.

As new industrialization is a process of modernizing traditional industries by incorporating digital technologies and related systems, some Chinese companies such as Huawei are leveraging 5G, artificial intelligence and big data tools to boost industrial growth.

Jin, the minister, pointed out in his article that China will moderately advance the construction of information infrastructure, deepen the innovative development of the industrial internet and promote the research and development of 6G networks.

He emphasized that more efforts will be made to increase the intensity of technological R&D in response to bottlenecks, such as those involving integrated circuits and basic software, and provide scientific and technological support to ensure the autonomy, security and controllability of some important industrial and supply chains.

Yu Shaohua, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that replacing traditional industrialization with new industrialization will inject fresh vitality into the high-quality development of the real economy, as digital technologies are becoming increasingly intertwined with manufacturing.

"Advancing the deep integration of the digital economy and the traditional industrial economy is an important path to achieve new industrialization, which will generate new infrastructure, new application models and a new industrial ecology," Yu said.