Liu Liehong: my country has built the world's largest optical fiber network and 4G network

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On March 31, the "2021 Digital Transformation and Development Summit Forum" was held in Beijing. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attended and delivered a speech. Liu Liehong pointed out that the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to digital development and digital economy, and have made a series of major strategic arrangements to promote the construction of Digital China in all directions. We must seize the opportunities brought by industrial digitalization and digital industrialization, and accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G network data centers. We must speed up the layout of strategic emerging industries such as digital economy, life health, and new materials. Future industries will vigorously promote scientific and technological innovation, focus on strengthening new growth points, and form new development momentum.

This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has conscientiously implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and has worked with other departments to do a lot of work in accelerating the construction of new infrastructure, promoting the digital transformation of the industry, and promoting integrated development, and has achieved positive results. Liu Liehong introduced it from four aspects.

First, the top-level design is constantly improving and the direction of digital development is clear . From the central government to ministries and commissions to local governments at all levels, a series of policy documents have been issued to clarify the coordinates of digital development, and specific promotion plans and detailed knowledge measures have been given. The 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline of the 2035 Vision Goals have separately listed the chapters on accelerating digital development and building a digital China, and clearly proposed to create new advantages in the digital economy, accelerate the pace of digital social construction, improve the level of digital government construction and create a good digital ecology. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has successively issued the Industrial Internet Innovation and Development Action Plan (2020-2023), the Notice on Promoting the Accelerated Development of 5G, and the Special Action Plan for Digital Empowerment of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Recently, an action plan for the coordinated development of 5G and Gigabit Optical Networks has been released. These documents comprehensively deploy the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G, industrial Internet, and data centers, providing solid policy guarantees for promoting the digital transformation of traditional industries and cultivating and expanding emerging digital industries.

Second, the construction of facilities has been steadily advanced to lay a solid foundation for digital development. After more than ten years of unremitting efforts, China has built the world's largest fiber-optic network and 4G network, and the network penetration rate is far higher than the world average. Now, in accordance with the principle of combining construction with use and being moderately advanced, the construction of 5G networks is being accelerated. By the end of last year, 718,000 5G base stations had been built, and 600,000 5G base stations are planned to be built this year. At the same time, the construction of 5G is also divided into scenarios according to the needs of the construction of three major scenarios. The construction of industry and digital society will be important application scenarios. The construction of data centers is also being carried out simultaneously. The application carrying and cloud service capabilities have been significantly improved. The development of the industrial Internet has entered the fast lane, the network construction and transformation have been improved in quantity and quality, the identification resolution system has developed rapidly, the platform capabilities have been continuously enhanced, the security system has been gradually built, and the scope of integrated applications has continued to expand. It has covered more than 30 key industries of the national economy, driving the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry to move towards everyone.

Third, the speed of innovation in technical standards has increased the momentum of digital development. With the joint efforts of all parties, the innovation capabilities of China's information and communication industry and manufacturing industry have been significantly improved, a number of major achievements have emerged one after another, and the development of some industries has shifted from following to running side by side and leading. The strength of technological innovation is moving from quantitative accumulation to qualitative leap, from point breakthroughs to system capacity improvement. The proportion of 5G international standard essential patents is leading the world. Internet of Vehicles based on cellular mobile networks and wireless communication technologies have become international standards and accelerated industrialization. Important progress has been made in the research and industrialization of some core technologies in the fields of cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence. Some scientific research institutes have taken the lead in establishing a digital trusted service standard system, which has played an important role in promoting the healthy development of the digital industry and accelerating the digital transformation process of various industries and enterprises.

Fourth, the scale of digital economy has expanded, stimulating the vitality of digital development. At the macro level, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China's digital economy grew at an average annual rate of 16.6%, contributing more than 67% to GDP growth. From a micro perspective, the subjective willingness of enterprises to implement digital transformation has increased significantly, and digital technology has been rapidly integrated into the entire process of design, manufacturing, management, marketing, etc., and integrated application innovation has been carried out for the entire industrial chain and the entire value chain. New models such as digital design, intelligent manufacturing, networked collaboration, service extension, personalized customization, and lean management have been explored and formed, helping thousands of industries to improve quality, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. Overall, China's digital development has reached the stage of in-depth practice and intensive cultivation, and the future prospects are promising. However, compared with the requirements of high-quality development and compared with leading countries, China currently still has gaps in key basic capabilities, depth of integrated applications, and resource element guarantees. It also faces some problems of unbalanced and insufficient development. It is urgent for all parties to further enhance consensus, deepen pragmatic cooperation, give full play to China's existing advantages, coordinate the promotion of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, and help the digital economy grow bigger and stronger.

Liu Liehong put forward four suggestions for the next stage of work.

First, we will increase investment in the construction of new technology facilities and seize the opportunities of the era of digital development. In accordance with the principles of demand-driven, system layout, and moderate advancement, we will increase investment, continue to promote the construction of 5G industrial Internet data centers, and strive to create a high-speed, mobile, secure, and ubiquitous new infrastructure. At the same time, we will promote the digital transformation of traditional infrastructure and lay a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the digital economy.

Second, drive the modernization of the industrial chain through digital transformation. Guide and support digital transformation supply companies to closely integrate products and services with the production practices, industry characteristics, knowledge and experience of various industries, and create solutions that closely meet the needs of different scenarios. Vigorously promote various new digital models and new formats, promote the transformation of corporate production methods, organizational management changes and business model innovation, guide industrial clusters to accelerate digital transformation, create digital industrial clusters with data flow, resource allocation demand response and business collaboration, and improve the level of modernization of the industrial chain.

The third is to create a good cooperative ecology for digital development, unite the forces of government, industry, academia, research and application, with the theme of accelerating digital development, build a platform for dialogue and cooperation, integrate high-quality resources, gather and promote rationality, strengthen the connection between the supply and demand sides of digital transformation, strengthen cross-industry linkage, continuously break through technical barriers and obstacles to data sharing, and encourage and support enterprises in different industries to explore and innovate demand, technology and standards in the form of team competitions.

Fourth, we will build a digital development support system. We will encourage third-party institutions to continuously improve the standard system supporting digital transformation and accelerate its promotion. On the one hand, we will use relevant maturity models to help enterprises with digital transformation needs understand the extent of their own digital development, identify their shortcomings and weaknesses, and clarify their future development goals. On the other hand, by promoting the implementation of relevant standards, we will objectively evaluate the service capabilities of digital transformation enterprises, guide them to continuously improve the quality and credibility of digital transformation services, build a fair and standardized market order, and promote the healthy development of the industry.