General

According to the recently released Global Digital Economy Development Index Report (TIMG2023), China has a significant advantage in the digital market and digital infrastructure fields, ranking second and third globally, respectively.

The TIMG Index, also known as the Global Digital Economy Development Index, measures the development of the global digital economy from four dimensions: digital technology, digital infrastructure, digital markets, and digital governance. "Digitalization brings convenience and challenges to national governance and global governance; empowering the real economy, but also brings the risk of economic" breaking away from reality ", and also creates social gaps such as the digital divide." John X. J. Zhang, director of the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the National Finance and Development Laboratory, said that digital economy research, including the TIMG index, was carried out, The purpose is to better utilize the "double-edged sword" of digitization and provide academic support for the high-quality development of China's digital economy.

The Report was jointly issued by the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Finance and Development Laboratory, and the China Social Sciences Press.

The global digital economy is showing a sustained development trend, and the gap in digital economy development between countries is gradually narrowing. The report shows that since 2013, the overall development of the global digital economy has shown an upward trend. North America, Asia Pacific, and Western Europe are the three major regions with higher levels of digital economy development. Other Asian regions such as ASEAN and West Asia, as well as countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, have a moderate level of digital economy development, while the digital economy development in Africa is relatively backward. The average score of the TIMG index increased from 45.33 in 2013 to 57.01 in 2021, with a growth rate of 26%. Especially after 2018, the catch-up trend of major countries in the digital economy has become increasingly evident, with the global median of the TIMG index starting to exceed the global average and showing an accelerating upward trend. The rapid development of the digital economy is mainly driven by the development of digital markets and the construction of digital infrastructure, while the improvement of digital technology and digital governance is relatively slow. From the perspective of country differences, the differences in the development level of the global digital economy among different countries are showing a convergence trend.

From the overall index perspective, the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and others were the countries with the highest TIMG index ranking in 2021, while China ranked 8th. From the perspective of sub index, the United States, Finland, and Switzerland are the top three countries in the 2021 digital technology index; The United States, Singapore, and China are among the top three countries in the digital infrastructure index globally; The United States, China, and the United Kingdom rank highest globally in the digital market index. China has significant advantages in the digital market and digital infrastructure, but there is still a certain gap in digital technology and digital governance compared to countries such as the United States and Singapore, ranking 15th and 41st.

The construction of the digital silk road has become an important part of the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" in international trade and a breakthrough in Future International international cooperation. The TIMG index of countries (regions) along the "the Belt and Road" began to exceed that of countries (regions) along the non international trade "the Belt and Road" after 2017. Among them, China has outstanding advantages in the digital market, while Singapore is in a leading position in digital technology, digital infrastructure, and digital governance.

"Cross border e-commerce is changing the consumption habits of users in countries and regions along the the Belt and Road." Pei You, a Spanish employee of AliExpress, said that no Spaniard would buy wedding dresses online before. Nowadays, more and more Spanish women are buying wedding dresses on AliExpress.

In the construction of the digital silk road, the "the Belt and Road" Digital Economy International Cooperation Initiative jointly launched by China and many countries is committed to promoting Digital transformation and building an interconnected digital silk road; The Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation in the Construction of the "Online Silk Road" and Promoting Information Connectivity was signed to promote international production capacity cooperation in the fields of mobile payment, digital infrastructure, smart cities and other fields among countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" for international trade. By the end of 2022, China has signed more than 80 intergovernmental science and technology cooperation agreements with countries that jointly build the "the Belt and Road" for international trade, signed the "Digital Silk Road" cooperation memorandum of understanding with 17 countries, and established the "Silk Road E-commerce" bilateral cooperation mechanism with 23 countries, laying an important institutional foundation for the construction of the Digital Silk Road.

The digital economy will become a new field of international cooperation and a competitive track in the Future International. The Report pointed out that at present, China and countries with close economic and trade exchanges are carrying out more in-depth cooperation in the field of digital economy, accelerating the establishment of digital economy cooperation with countries along the the Belt and Road in international trade, and carrying out digital economy cooperation in subdivisions with leading countries in digital economy development. In the future, there will be a lot of room for improvement and cooperation between China and digital economy cooperation countries in areas such as digital technology, digital infrastructure, digital markets, and digital governance.

Li Zhenhua, president of Ant Group Research Institute, believes that market innovation and government regulation are indispensable for the development of digital economy. The quality of digital economy development depends on the balance between the two. (Translated from: China Trade News)