The Telecommunication, Computer and Information Services thematic exhibition is being held during the 2021 CIFTIS in Beijing. [Photo provided by Zhi-Tech Group]

The State will continue to support the development of the private sector, Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice-premier, said in his address, via video link, to the 2021 China International Digital Economy Expo that opened in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, on Monday.

The private sector contributes more than 50 percent to China's tax revenue and over 60 percent to its GDP. It also accounts for more than 70 percent to its technological innovation, over 80 percent to its urban employment, and comprises more than 90 percent of its market players.

According to a Cyberspace Administration of China report, China's digital economy has become the second largest in the world with the added value of its core industries accounting for 7.8 percent of the country's GDP. Private enterprises are the main drivers of China's digital economy, and the global influence many of them enjoy has helped enhance the international competitiveness of China's overall economy.

With the popularization of 5G technology, private enterprises will get greater development opportunities in the field of the digital economy. Liu said China must follow the innovation-oriented new development pattern to develop the digital economy and achieve high-quality socioeconomic development. It also needs to accord priority to the cultivation of talents, give full play to entrepreneurship and boost demand.

The digital economy relies on internet and communications technology to promote innovations in traditional media and other fields. Therefore, the digital sector should use imagination and creativity, and apply research results to industry to expand demand, for which able entrepreneurship, advanced technologies and creative talents are needed.

China should also try to improve its legal environment, and advance infrastructure construction to optimize the supply of resources and services, promote fair competition, and crack down on monopolies.

The government has taken measures to establish a level playing field in the digital sector and encourage more enterprises and individuals to boost the development of the sector through innovation.

But it should also make maximum use of the comparative advantages and combine the industrial characteristics of different regions to promote differentiated competition, and prevent low-level, homogenized competition.