Chinese President Xi Jinping offered congratulations in a letter to the 2019 China International Digital Economy Expo that opened Friday in Shijiazhuang, north       China's Hebei Province.  

The expo, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Hebei provincial government, is China's only national-level exposition dedicated to digital economy.

President Xi pointed out in the letter that sci-tech revolutions and industrial changes are changing with each passing day in the modern world. He said that digital economy has been thriving, profoundly changing the mode of production and life and exerting profound influences over the world's economic and social development, global governance system, as well as the process of human civilization.

China attaches great importance to the development of digital economy. China is actively promoting digital industrialization and industry digitalization in an effort to guide the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, thus promoting the high-quality development of the economy, President Xi noted.

The president also expressed his hope that participants at the event will deepen exchanges and cooperation, explore ways to share the development of the digital economy, and better benefit the people of the world.

Over 500 enterprises are taking part in the expo, in the five exhibition areas highlighting digital economy's role in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development, new-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing and smart society. 

In 2018, China's digital economy valued at 31.3 trillion yuan (about 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for 34.8 percent of the country's GDP and contributing 67.9 percent of the GDP growth, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. 

(With input from China Daily)