On December 5th, He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, stated at a regular press conference that digital trade has become a new trend in international trade development and a new growth point in economic development. In recent years, China's digital trade has flourished and maintained rapid growth in scale. In the first three quarters of 2024, China's imports and exports of digitally deliverable services amounted to 2.13 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%; Cross border e-commerce imports and exports reached 1.88 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%, both reaching historical highs. In recent years, there are two main reasons for the rapid growth of China's digital trade scale Song Siyuan, deputy researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with reporters that on the one hand, it is due to China's good foundation for the development of the digital trade industry. In recent years, digital products represented by digital games, digital books, etc. have successfully "gone global", and digital technologies such as cloud computing and satellite navigation have developed rapidly and gained leading advantages in trade. The high-quality development characteristics of digital ordering trade such as cross-border e-commerce have become increasingly prominent, and the service outsourcing industry has accelerated its transformation and upgrading, jointly promoting the rapid growth of digital trade. On the other hand, at the national level, policy support has been strengthened. Since 2020, 12 of the first batch of national digital service export bases have been recognized, and relevant support policies have been implemented to guide the formation of innovative clusters in digital trade, carry out pilot projects, and promote the development level of digital trade in China. Liu Xiangdong, Deputy Director of the Economic Research Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center, stated that the foundation for the development of China's digital economy is improving, and the digital transformation of traditional manufacturing industries is rapid, providing a foundation for the rapid development of digital trade. On the basis of the widespread application of digital technology, new forms of "digital+trade" continue to emerge. It is worth mentioning that the recently released "Opinions of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on the Reform, Innovation and Development of Digital Trade" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") proposes that by 2029, the proportion of service trade that can be digitally delivered in China's total service trade will increase to over 45%, and a basic institutional mechanism that adapts to the development of digital trade will be established; By 2035, the proportion of digitally deliverable service trade in China's total service trade will increase to over 50%, an orderly, secure, and efficient digital trade governance system will be fully established, and the level of institutional openness will be comprehensively improved. Based on the above goals, the Opinion proposes 18 specific measures to support the development of sub sectors and business entities in digital trade, promote institutional openness in digital trade, improve the governance system of digital trade, and strengthen organizational guarantees. How to promote the implementation and effectiveness of various policy measures? Song Siyuan stated that firstly, at the government level, various regions should strengthen the overall coordination and guidance of digital trade work, form joint forces between departments, ensure the effective implementation of various policy measures, and encourage the application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence in the field of digital trade, continuously strengthening the innovative development momentum of digital trade. Secondly, further improve the mechanism for cross-border data flow. Under the premise of ensuring the security of national and personal data, effectively promote and regulate the cross-border flow of data, improve the efficiency of digital trade development, eliminate development obstacles, and continuously optimize the innovation environment of digital trade. Finally, take the initiative to build a global digital trade ecosystem centered around myself. Deepen international cooperation in the field of digital trade, actively participate in and lead the discussion and formulation of international rules for digital trade, propose a "Chinese solution" for digital trade, strengthen the discourse power of global governance in digital trade, and reflect the responsibility of a major country. Liu Xiangdong suggested that on the one hand, we should continue to optimize the business environment and create an open, inclusive, fair, just, and non discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy; On the other hand, we should actively align with international high standard economic and trade rules, establish a sound digital trade governance system in the formulation of standards and rules related to data flow, market access, taxation, intellectual property, and personal privacy data protection, and extensively carry out digital economy and cross-border e-commerce cooperation with partner countries. (New Society)