The ＂Digital Economy Initiative＂ is a significant pioneering achievement of the G20 Hangzhou Summit.

　　The theme of G20 Hangzhou Summit is to build an innovative, dynamic, coordinated and inclusive world economy. How to change the growth mode through innovation and inject new impetus into the current difficult recovery of the world economy is a major issue before the world, and the world expects the Hangzhou Summit to give an answer. Looking back on May 17th this year, the G20 coordinators held a special meeting on "Innovative Growth Mode" for the Hangzhou Summit, and Deputy Director Zhuang Rongwen of the Central Network Information Office has conveyed important information to the outside world — — The Hangzhou Summit will come up with a recipe to revitalize the world economy: G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative. This important document inherits the consensus of leaders at the Antalya Summit in 2015: We live in the era of Internet economy, and opportunities and challenges for global growth coexist. On this basis, the document will strive to find ways to seize opportunities and meet challenges, especially to propose specific measures to promote inclusive growth of the world economy through the digital economy. This will be the first global digital economic cooperation initiative, which will make a great contribution in the history of world economic development.

　　At present, there is no authoritative definition of what digital economy is, but its basic feature is that digital technology has been widely used and brought about fundamental changes in economic environment and economic activities. Modern information network has become an important space for economic activities, and information technology has become an important driving force for optimizing economic structure and promoting economic growth. This happens to be the direction of power transformation after China’s economy enters the new normal. The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that the new normal should have new impetus, and the Internet can do a lot in this respect. Because of this, China, as the chairman of this year’s G20 summit, listed the digital economy as an important topic of the summit for the first time, presided over the drafting of the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative, and contributed China wisdom to it.

　　China’s Internet development achievements have injected strong confidence into the global digital economy.

　　China put forward the strategy of strengthening the country by network, which is closely linked with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Internet has penetrated into all aspects of China’s economic and social development, profoundly changed people’s production and lifestyle, brought about a qualitative leap in productivity and triggered a major change in production relations. The development of Internet in China has made remarkable achievements. It has become a breakthrough to build a well-off society in an all-round way by accelerating the transformation of China from an industrial economy to an information/digital economy and vigorously developing the sharing economy based on the Internet. There are 710 million netizens in China, and the Internet penetration rate reaches 51.7%. Internet companies in China have risen rapidly, occupying four seats among the top ten Internet companies in the world; In 2015, the e-commerce transaction volume in China exceeded 20 trillion yuan.

　　China regards the all-round development of information/digital economy as an important indicator of network power, and takes adapting to and leading the new normal of economic development as an important requirement of the national informatization development strategy. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, China will vigorously implement a series of major strategies and actions, such as the strategy of strengthening the country by network, the national big data strategy and the "internet plus" action plan, so as to promote the further innovation and development of the digital economy. In 2020, the total information consumption in China will reach 6 trillion yuan, and the scale of e-commerce transactions will reach 38 trillion yuan. China will continue to focus on the supply-side structural reform, give full play to the role of informatization in improving the total factor productivity, foster new impetus for development, shape more leading development that gives full play to the first-Mover advantage, and support China’s economic evolution to a stage with more advanced form, more optimized division of labor and more reasonable structure.

　　G20 Hangzhou Summit put forward the development concept of global digital economy.

　　The new development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing reflects the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s new understanding of the law of economic and social development. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that the network information business represents new productive forces and new development direction, and should and can take the lead in practicing the new development concept. The digital economy is a part of the network information business. China not only actively practices the new development concept when developing the digital economy itself, but also strives to establish guiding principles for the global digital economy.

　　We must persist in innovation and development, and make ICT technological innovation an important driving force for inclusive economic development. It is necessary to adhere to coordinated development, so that the digital economy can be closely integrated with the development themes in economic and social fields, avoiding conflicts and coordinating. We should adhere to green (that is, trust and security) development, enhance the security of ICT and key information infrastructure, and ensure the healthy, stable and sustainable development of the digital economy. We should adhere to open (cooperative) development, deepen close cooperation among G20 members, narrow differences, expand consensus and meet common challenges through constructive dialogue. We must persist in sharing (that is, inclusive) development and bridge the digital divide. People all over the world can enjoy the benefits brought by the digital economy regardless of gender, race, region, age, health status and economic level, and ensure the realization of the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

　　In addition, in view of the complexity of global issues, on the basis of China’s new development concept, G20 should take flexibility as an important principle, and realize that different countries are at different levels of development and have different concerns and priorities on development and security issues. We must fully respect the national conditions of all countries, so that G20 members can independently choose a path consistent with their development status, historical and cultural traditions, national legal system and national development strategy.

　　G20 Digital Economy Initiative insists on paying equal attention to development and security.

　　The digital economy is a development issue, but security is the bottom line. Consensus security norms are an important part of the global digital economy initiative. At the first meeting of the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between security and development, so as to coordinate and go hand in hand, ensuring development with security and promoting security with development. In addition, at last year’s world internet conference in Wuzhen, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader put forward "Four Principles" and "Five Propositions", pointing out that all countries should respect their right to choose their own network development path, network management mode, internet public policy and equal participation in international cyberspace governance, and refrain from engaging in cyber hegemony, interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, and engaging in, conniving at or supporting network activities that endanger other countries’ national security. The "cyber sovereignty" advocated by China has aroused strong resonance among countries and won wide support from people who love peace and are eager for development in the world.

　　The G20 Digital Economy Initiative also fully embodies the importance of security and development. In terms of information flow, the initiative proposes to promote the flow of information and knowledge on the basis of considering the safety of information and communication technologies and respecting network security, personal data and privacy protection, so as to enhance the confidence and trust of the digital economy; In terms of key infrastructure, the initiative points out that it is necessary to improve the security of key infrastructure based on information and communication technology, so that information and communication technology will continue to be a reliable driving force for accelerating economic development. Encourage the development of credible information infrastructure to promote credible, stable and reliable Internet applications; In terms of online transactions, it is proposed to enhance the availability, integrity, confidentiality and authenticity of online transactions. Strengthen international cooperation in online transactions, jointly fight cyber crimes and protect the information and communication technology environment. From this point of view, the G20 Digital Economy Initiative fully reflects the consensus of all parties on security and development, and makes the global digital economy enter the track of safe and healthy development, which will surely promote the healthy and rapid development of the digital economy.

　　(The author is Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of China Information Security Research Institute)