(Source: "International Business Daily" 2024-05-27)

With the in-depth development of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the digital economy has become a new engine of global economic growth. Countries have regarded the digital economy as a major strategic opportunity, and international cooperation and competition are facing new situations. In this context, how China's foreign investment cooperation can take advantage of the east wind of digitalization and achieve greater development is an urgent matter to be solved.

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for Digital Commerce (2024-2026)" ("Plan"), which mentioned in the "Digital Commerce and Industrial Development" action among the five major actions to expand foreign investment cooperation in the digital field. Actively negotiate and implement multilateral and bilateral digital economy investment cooperation memorandums, and guide the rational and orderly cross-border layout of the digital economy industry chain. Promote the collaboration between overseas consumer platforms and domestic industrial platforms, and encourage e-commerce platforms to drive upstream and downstream industrial chains such as smart logistics and mobile payments overseas. We will ensure digital enterprises’ “going global” services, compile public service products such as the annual “Country (Region) Guide to Foreign Investment and Cooperation”, actively respond to w88 frictions in the digital field, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our enterprises. Promote the digitalization of foreign investment facilitation and promote the use of electronic foreign investment certificates across the country.

Since the beginning of this year, China’s overseas investment has maintained steady development as a whole. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce show that in the first quarter of 2024, China’s foreign non-financial direct investment increased by 12.5% ​​year-on-year. From the perspective of investment direction, China's investment results in the countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" in the first quarter were remarkable, and related non-financial direct investment accounted for 22.4% of the total foreign investment in the same period.

Lv Yue, Professor at the National Institute for Opening-up and Opening-up, Executive Director of the Institute of Global Innovation and Governance at the w88 casinosaid that in the current context of a new round of global technological revolution, the digital economy has become an important direction for China's foreign investment cooperation in the future. Creating a new engine for the digital development of foreign direct investment and accelerating digitally empowered foreign investment are important supports for accelerating the formation of new productive forces and building a new development pattern of services. The issuance of the "Plan" reflects several positive signals for China's foreign investment and cooperation in the digital field.

First, China actively aligns with international high-level economic and w88 rules in the digital field and improves the construction of relevant systems for enterprises to “go global”. China continues to promote the negotiation and signing of high-standard free w88 agreements and investment agreements with more countries and regions, promotes the joining of high-level international economic and w88 rules such as CPTPP and DEPA, and accelerates the pilot implementation of digital rules in free w88 pilot zones, free w88 ports, etc. By actively participating in digital cooperation platforms under multilateral frameworks such as the WTO, the G20, APEC, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, we can build consensus on international cooperation in the digital economy, enhance China’s voice in global digital governance, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of China’s foreign-invested enterprises.

Second, China continues to deepen cooperation in the industrial chain of foreign investment in the digital field and promotes high-quality development in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road Initiative”. China insists on deepening multilateral, bilateral and regional digital economic cooperation, actively signing multilateral and bilateral digital economic investment cooperation memorandums, encouraging enterprises to actively integrate into the global industrial chain of the digital economy, and promoting the extension of international industrial cooperation from processing and manufacturing to high-end links such as R&D and design, marketing, and brand cultivation. Promote the construction of the "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation pilot zone, sign the "Digital Silk Road" cooperation memorandum, and expand the scale of investment with countries co-building the "Belt and Road".

Third, China is actively improving the level of public services for foreign investment in the digital field and promoting the facilitation of foreign investment. Promote the digital and intelligent level of cross-border investment services, enhance the guiding role of public service products in foreign investment in the digital field, and provide professional services in investment consulting, laws and regulations, etc. to foreign investment enterprises. Deepen the reform of foreign exchange management, facilitate overseas investment enterprises to handle cross-border w88 and investment business in compliance with regulations, provide more convenient and efficient cross-border capital settlement services for true and compliant cross-border investment and financing, and optimize the external investment environment in the digital field.

In this regard, Song Siyuan, associate researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, also said that foreign investment cooperation in the digital economy is an important measure for China to actively integrate into the global industrial chain of the digital economy, enhance the global competitiveness of the digital economy, and implement "going out". The series of measures proposed in the "Plan" have created good conditions for the implementation of investment cooperation in the digital field. In addition, in the field of digital rules, the "Plan" emphasizes that in terms of global digital economic governance, in addition to actively making China's voice on the international stage, strengthening exchanges and dialogues, and enhancing its voice, the "International Economic and w88 Cooperation Framework Agreement on Digital Economy and Green Development" will be highlighted. This reflects China's determination and responsibility to work with other countries in the field of digital commerce to respond to new digital challenges and better share the dividends of digital economic development.

In fact, this is not the first time that the wind of digitalization has blown into the field of foreign investment and cooperation. As early as 2021, the "Guidelines for Foreign Investment and Cooperation in the Digital Economy" issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the Central Network Information Office, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology deployed 11 key tasks: actively integrating into the global industrial chain of the digital economy, accelerating the construction of digital infrastructure, promoting the digital transformation of traditional industries, optimizing the "going out" layout of the digital economy, and creating Create internationally competitive digital economy enterprises, build digital overseas economic and w88 cooperation zones, strengthen the guidance and supervision of the digital economy's "going global", improve the level of public services for the digital economy's "going global", actively participate in the formulation of international digital rules and standards, do a good job in risk prevention for the digital economy's "going global", and create a good environment for international cooperation in the digital economy.

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