Liu Xiangdong: Multiple Measures are Issued to Vigorously Promote the Construction of New Infrastructure

—By Liu Xiangdong 

The data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that as of the end of April this year, China has cumulatively built over 2.73 million 5G base stations. The 5G network covers all prefecture-level cities and county-level urban areas nationwide. The number of 5G mobile phone users has reached 634 million households, with over a hundred million users having gigabit access. Since the issuance of 5G commercial licenses four years ago, 5G applications have integrated into more than 60% of the categories in the national economy. China has established the world's largest and technologically advanced network infrastructure. Based on information networks and utilizing new infrastructure components such as 5G base station construction, big data centers, artificial intelligence, and industrial internet, the development of new infrastructure is becoming an essential part of the modern infrastructure system. It plays a crucial role in aspects such as digital transformation, intelligent upgrading, and integrated innovation.

Developing new infrastructure is conducive to establishing a solid foundation for the deep integration of digital and real economies. It holds practical significance in terms of foundation, leadership, and strategy. The digitalization, intelligence, and greening of infrastructure upgrades are crucial to ensuring the integrity, advancement, and security of the modern industrial system. This not only provides a robust platform for the expansion and upgrading of the real economy but also creates broader market application scenarios and space for new technologies, industries, and formats. Over the years, due to forward-looking planning and coordinated promotion, China's construction of new infrastructure such as network infrastructure, computing power infrastructure, and application infrastructure has steadily progressed. It has built the world's largest and technologically advanced new infrastructure platform, unleashing the consumption and production potential of over a billion interconnected people, driving the rapid development of the internet economy. At the same time, it has accumulated massive data resources, established a solid computing power foundation, and consolidated the core productivity of the digital economy.

With the rapid development of new-generation information technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the demand for a more sophisticated new infrastructure system has become increasingly strong. In response, China is accelerating the development of 5G, 6G, and other technological applications. Initiatives like the "Chasing the Light Action" for gigabit optical networks, the construction of strong cloud networks in small and medium-sized cities, and the high-quality development of mobile IoT are underway to upgrade and transform information infrastructure. Building on the construction of artificial intelligence, industrial internet, IoT, etc., significant projects like East Data West Algorithm and East Data West Storage are being swiftly implemented. The goal is to use leading-edge infrastructure to connect billions of devices, hundreds of billions of items, and hundreds of thousands of kilometers of transportation and logistics infrastructure, further expanding the vast space for industrial digitization.

As an old Chinese saying goes, it is necessary to have effective tools to do good work. Technology innovation and development are inseparable from infrastructure development, especially the development of data, computing power, and algorithms. To stimulate the vitality of technological innovation and societal creativity, a diverse and complete infrastructure of data centers, computing facilities, and large-scale model training for research and experimentation is required. In recent years, China has established 77 national major science and technology infrastructure projects, over 200 national engineering research centers, more than 1,600 national enterprise technology centers, and a batch of national industry innovation centers. This has created a diverse set of 5G innovative application scenarios, forming a relatively complete system of major science and technology infrastructure. The rapid development of AI large model technology will trigger a transformation in innovative infrastructure, where data, computing power, and models will become indispensable tools for scientific and technological innovation. In the future, more research institutions and innovative enterprises will delve into core technologies such as cloud-network integration, computing power networks, deterministic networks, etc. They will strengthen the layout of advanced computing, network integration, and other new infrastructure, driving the landing of more innovative application scenarios and continually enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of basic research, applied basic research, and engineering experiments.

The construction of new infrastructure will play a crucial role in the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road Initiative." China has leveraged its comparative advantages in infrastructure construction, actively engaged in foreign engineering contracts, and promoted infrastructure interconnection among countries along the "Belt and Road," providing strong support for the economic and trade development of relevant countries. Currently, China has gradually enhanced its high-quality supply capacity in new infrastructure areas such as information, integration, and innovation, promoting the outward export of new infrastructure. In the face of the new international situation, accelerating the cultivation of high-quality export capabilities for new infrastructure can effectively advance the practical and deep development of the "Belt and Road," assisting countries along the route in building a digital economic system supported by modern infrastructure. This will enhance their internal driving forces for economic development and resilience against external shocks. Moving forward, solidly advancing the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" requires attention to both the "hard connectivity" and "soft connectivity" of new infrastructure, continuously improving the export capabilities of new infrastructure.

(The author Liu Xiangdong is the Researcher of the Department of Macroeconomic Studies, China Center for International Economic Exchanges)

(The original article was published on Economic Daily on 26^th June, 2023)