Abstract:

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China′s digital level has continued to increase. The information technology innovation capability has gradually increased. And the data resource system construction has achieved remarkable results. The digital economy has become the fastest-growing, most innovative and most influential economic activity and the core competitiveness of national development, which occupies a leading position in the social economy, constantly injecting new vitality into global economic development and social progress. Therefore, this paper considers that analyzing the development status and international competitiveness of China′s digital economy is necessary in order to enhance China′s comprehensive strength in the field of digital economy. Existing research focuses on measuring the level of information and communication technology, lacking a comprehensive grasp of the connotation of digital economy, which leads to some deficiencies in the scientific and rationality of the index system it constructs. The research results may also be one-sided. In view of this, this paper puts forward that the digital economy is a new phenomenon combining technological innovation and economic activities. It can be interpreted from three dimensions including software and hardware infrastructure construction, information and communication technology level, and innovation and technology transformation capabilities, which analyze the development status of the domestic digital economy and its international competitiveness more comprehensively. The innovation of this research has two aspects. One is to study the new economy of the future economic growth of the digital economy, which has strong practical significance. The other is to construct a domestic and international index system for the development of the digital economy respectively. By analyzing the development status of China′s digital economy and its international competitiveness, the policy implications can provide useful reference for the development of China′s digital economy in the future.
Based on data from 30 provinces and municipalities in China and cross-country data from 159 countries from 2003 to 2017, this paper measures digital economy from three dimensions of mobile network and talent cultivation, communication technology carrying capacity, and economic and technological foundations by principal component analysis and efficacy scores. The results show that: (1) From the perspective of the current domestic situation, Beijing, Guangdong, and Jiangsu rank the top three in terms of digital economy development. And Beijing ranks first in all three aspects including mobile network and talent training, communication technology carrying capacity, and economic and technological foundations. (2) According to the results of regional grouping, it can be found that the level of digital economy development in eastern China is much higher than that in the western region. The east area has the highest scores in the first-level indicators and comprehensive evaluation index, while the western region has the lowest score, indicating the widening digital gap between the eastern and western regions. (3) In terms of the indicators that characterize the development level of China′s inter-provincial digital economy, the regional differences in China′s communications technology carrying capacity and economic and technological base are far greater than the differences in mobile networks and talent training. The former two reflect the gap between the regional soft environment, and the latter reflect the gap between the hard environment such as network infrastructure and talent training. It shows that the development of the overall level of China′s digital economy depends more on the regional economic foundation and technology application capabilities. (4) From the perspective of international comparison, China′s digital economy ranks second in the world. In terms of talent innovation ability and information technology level, China ranks second and fifth respectively. In the field of talent innovation ability, the United States occupies the first place. And China ranks 28th in terms of infrastructure construction. So there is much room for improvement.
The conclusions of this paper have important policy implications as follows: (1) It is necessary to strengthen the construction of digital economy infrastructure to provide application sites and infrastructure support for the development of digital economy, by speeding up the upgrade of network infrastructure, realizing digital interconnection among industries, increasing infrastructure investment in big data, cloud computing, cloud storage, Internet of things, artificial intelligence and other fields. (2) The layout of the digital economy industry should be optimized. In response to the current imbalance in the development of the digital economy, provinces and cities should formulate digital economy construction plans and cultivate a number of digital economy high-tech zones, agglomeration zones, and innovation bearing areas based on their own development advantages. For example, a national digital industry pilot demonstration cluster can be established relying on the "Made in China 2025" national demonstration zone in the Yangtze River urban agglomeration. In the construction of a pioneering demonstration zone, Shenzhen can be the center of a digital economic innovation and development experimental zone. (3) Policies should be made to promote the agglomeration of digital talents, by speeding up the establishment of digital economy-related majors in colleges and universities, jointly training digital talents, promoting the popularization of big data science courses and digital economy innovation labs from preschool education to high school education, and strengthening young people′s cognition of the digital economy. Meanwhile, preferential policies in household registration, housing, personal taxes, and children′s education should be made for relevant talents to attract them and promote the transition of knowledge-based to digital-based.

Key words:  digital economy, development status, international competitiveness, principal component analysis, efficacy score