US-China tech war: Beijing unveils grand plan to grow digital economy as US moves forward with competition bill
- The plan endorsed a target that would see the output of core industries in China’s digital economy account for 10 per cent the country’s GDP by 2025
- Beijing’s ambitions for the digital economy and core technologies have stoked fears in the US that it could lose technological leadership to China.
The Chinese government has published a major plan to boost its global competitiveness in the digital economy before 2025, as the US is reportedly moving forward with a bill to authorise billions of dollars in funding to bolster US capabilities amid the US-China tech war.
The 14th five-year plan on the “digital economy”, published by China’s State Council, or cabinet, is broad in scope, covering everything from communications to e-commerce.
It will be a “a key force in reorganising global resources, reshaping global economic structure, and altering global competitive landscape”, according to the text of the document, which was issued on Wednesday but is dated December 12, 2021.
China must seize the opportunities offered by the digital economy, according to the plan. The document, which includes 11 chapters focusing on different areas, does not mention any country by name, but notes that “all major countries … are undertaking strategic planning and taking initiatives to create new competitive advantages [that will] reshape the international landscape in the digital age”.
For the five year period from 2021 to 2025, China will improve the digital transformation of its supply chain, close the gaps in data between different industries and social groups, better use data resources, and improve governance of the digital economy, according to the document.
The plan endorsed a target that would see the output of core industries in China’s digital economy account for 10 per cent the country’s GDP by 2025, up from 7.8 per cent in 2020.
Other targets that were set include a tenfold increase in the number of Chinese households connected to broadband with speeds of at least 1 gigabyte per second, reaching 60 million by 2025, up from 6.4 million in 2020.
