Zhejiang was selected as one of the first batch of National-level Pilot Zones for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy. This was learned by the reporter from the launch conference of the National-level Pilot Zones for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy held in Wuzhen on the afternoon of October 20.

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Cyberspace Administration of China started to carry out the construction of National-level Pilot Zones for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy. At the kick-off conference held on October 20, six pilot provinces and cities including Zhejiang Province were selected as the “National-level Pilot Zones for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy” and were awarded plaques, indicating the pilot zones were officially established.

The digital economy has long been the new main driven force for Zhejiang's economic growth and the main battlefield for entrepreneurial innovation. As early as 2016, Zhejiang has started to build the country's first National-level Demonstration Zone for the Information Economy. In the final evaluation conducted in September this year, the added value of the manufacturing industry, the core industry of Zhejiang's digital economy increased by 12.8% year-on-year, much higher than the growth rate of industries above designated size and the growth rate of GDP.

"From the National-level Demonstration Zone for the Information Economy to the National-level Pilot Zone for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy, Zhejiang's digital economy has led the high-quality development of economy to a new level." The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Economic and Information Department says that this means that Zhejiang is going to upgrade the information economy, which would enable the digital economy to take a new step in a broader scale, to a deeper level and with a higher quality, releasing more "dividends" in the digital economy.

It is reported that according to the requirements of the National-level Pilot Zones for Innovation and Development of the Digital Economy, Zhejiang will accelerate the establishment of a National-level Leading Zone for Digital Industrialization Development, a National-level Demonstration Zone for Digital Industrialization Transformation, a Pilot Zone for the Mechanism Innovation of Digital Economic System, and a National-level Model Zone for the Digital Government.

Executive Editor: Ke Ye

Translation: Ke Ye, Wenjin Chen