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China’s internet giants throw weight behind sharing economy after endorsement by Beijing

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Tencent founder and CEO Pony Ma (right) and Baidu CEO Li Yanhong attend the China (Shenzhen) IT Summit on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
He Huifengin Guangdong

China’s top internet players will embrace sharing-economy projects to push this model further into the mainstream and boost China’s economic and technological development, they said at a forum in Shenzhen, Guangdong province over the Easter break.

The country’s information technology industry saw revenue fall 0.6 per cent to 15.4 trillion yuan (US$2.37 trillion) last year, according to a report issued by the Federation of Digital China IT at the two-day China IT Summit on Sunday.

Despite the small slide, Chinese authorities remain confident in the sector, a key part to their plans to restructure China’s economy and manufacturing.

“The State Council introduced a series of strategic polices last year to intensify the IT industry’s pivotal role in the national economy,” Huai Jinpeng, vice minister of industry and information technology said at the summit.

Developing next-generation IT products is a top priority of China’s “Made in China 2025” national plan, and also the key to achieving “intelligent manufacturing” in China, he added.

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