China pursues reform and innovative development in digital trade

Chinese authorities on Thursday announced a set of goals to expand digital trade as China moves to boost the sector's reform and innovative development.

The country expects the digitally deliverable services trade's share of the overall services trade to exceed 45 percent by 2029 and 50 percent by 2035, according to the guideline document, which was made public by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

By 2035, a well-organized, secure and efficient digital trade governance system will be established in full, with comprehensive improvement seen in institutional opening-up, according to the guidelines.

The document says that efforts will be made to develop the trade of digital products and technologies, optimize the digital services trade, promote the high-quality development of digitally ordered trade, and foster digital trade entities.

To expand institutional opening-up in digital trade, China will ease market access and encourage foreign investment in the digital sector. The telecommunication, internet and culture industries, among others, will open more broadly in an orderly manner.

China will boost and regulate the cross-border flow of data, and build platforms for the high-standard opening-up of digital trade, per the guidelines.

The guidelines note that while ensuring the security of important data and personal information, China will work to establish an efficient, convenient and secure mechanism for cross-border data flows.

To improve the global digital trade governance system, China will participate actively in the formulation of international rules for digital trade, and help create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for digital development.

The country will advance work related to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to the document.

It also says that global cooperation on digital trade will be deepened, and that security governance in the digital sector will be strengthened. Work will be done to boost international cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, cross-border settlement and mobile payments, and to boost the interconnectivity of digital infrastructure.

The value of China's digitally deliverable services imports and exports hit a historic high of 1.42 trillion yuan ($197.5 billion) in the first half of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent, official data shows.