On October 19, local time, the 6th China-UK Internet Roundtable with the theme of "Exchange, Cooperation and Mutual Trust" was held in London. At the meeting, Zhuang Rongwen, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said in his keynote speech entitled "China and the UK work together to create a better tomorrow for the digital economy" that "China and the UK have strong complementarity in the field of digital economy, and the digital economy will become a new field to enhance cooperation between the two countries and a new driving force for the economic development of the two countries."

At present, human society is entering the third industrial revolution. The Internet is increasingly becoming a leading force for innovation-driven development. The integration and innovation of new technologies such as network communication technology and renewable energy technology is triggering a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. The digital economy has become the third economic form after the agricultural economy and the industrial economy, and is reshaping the world economic landscape. In this era, China and the UK have extensive common interests in the fields of smart cities, Internet finance, big data, cross-border e-commerce, and Internet information infrastructure. The digital economy will surely become a new field and focus of cooperation between China and the UK. This roundtable meeting conveyed the common desire and good expectations of Chinese and British officials, Internet company executives, and academic experts for win-win cooperation in the digital economy between China and the UK.

1. China-UK digital economy cooperation has a good foundation

Bilateral trade is growing rapidly. From January to June 2015, the bilateral trade in goods between China and the UK was US$42.83 billion, an increase of 3.4%. Among them, the UK exported US$13.59 billion to China, an increase of 10.1%, accounting for 5.9% of the UK's total exports, an increase of 1.1 percentage points; the UK imported US$29.23 billion from China, an increase of 0.6%, accounting for 9.3% of the UK's total imports, an increase of 0.9 percentage points. The UK's trade deficit was US$15.64 billion, a decrease of 6.4%. As of June, China was the UK's fifth largest export market and the third largest source of imports. China's main exports to the UK are electronic communication equipment, computers and other office equipment, clothing, toys, shoes, furniture, plastic products, etc. China's imports from the UK are mainly automobiles and their parts, power generation equipment, medical equipment, electronic communication equipment, medicines, scrap copper, etc.

Bilateral investment continues to grow. The UK is the second largest EU member investing in China and an important source of foreign direct investment for China, with an annual scale of more than US$400 million. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, China's net direct investment in the UK increased from US$16.71 million in 2008 to US$1.42 billion in 2013, an increase of 8,395% in five years, with an average annual growth of 300%. Chinese digital technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE have invested in the UK, promoting employment in the UK and the development of the UK digital economy. From 2012 to 2014, Huawei's contribution to the UK economy was 956 million pounds, including 231 million pounds of direct economic contribution, 435 million pounds of indirect contribution and 290 million pounds of associated economic contribution, and generated about 411 million pounds of tax revenue and brought 7,386 jobs.

The digital economy market potential of both sides is huge. According to the United Nations Goods Trade Statistics Database, in the field of information and communications (ICT), the UK's exports to China increased from US$652 million in 2009 to US$1.13 billion in 2014, an increase of 73% in five years. At present, the UK's business income in the digital economy accounts for 7.4% of the UK's total GAV (gross value added), equivalent to about 69 billion pounds; the number of jobs accounts for 3% of all jobs in the UK. According to relevant institutions, the total volume of China's digital economy reached 16.2 trillion yuan in 2014, with a nominal growth of more than 21.1% year-on-year, significantly higher than the GDP growth rate of that year, and accounting for more than 26% of GDP. The digital economy has become an important driving force for China's economic growth in recent years.

2. Progress of China-UK Digital Economy Cooperation

China-UK technical cooperation accelerates the construction of a new industrial ecology for mobile smart terminals. At present, ARM has nearly 170 partners in China. Rockchip and Allwinner Technology, two Chinese chip manufacturers, were able to increase their market share in the tablet chip market from 0.3% three years ago to 27%, mainly due to their cooperation with British chip manufacturer ARM, which enabled them to obtain relevant technology and patent authorization, speed up product development, and quickly seize the market. ARM architecture tablet processors produced in China account for about 40% of the global total.

China-UK industry collaboration sets a new benchmark for global basic telecommunications services. Vodafone and Huawei jointly launched the MetroZoneSmallCell solution and carried out commercial deployment pilots on Vodafone's multiple global networks, successfully solving the network capacity problem of urban hotspots. In September 2012, Vodafone and Huawei first commercialized the AtomCell solution in the famous bullring in Madrid, Spain, and undertook wireless communication services during large-scale events with more than 20,000 people and achieved great success. During the 2013 Mobile World Congress, Vodafone and Huawei deployed the AtomCell solution in the busiest squares and streets in Barcelona, providing local users with a faster and smoother wireless broadband experience.

China-UK cities cooperate to explore new models for the development of smart cities. As early as 2001, Bristol, UK and Guangzhou, China, became sister cities. The two sides will cooperate in the fields of smart energy, smart transportation and smart data. In addition, Manchester, UK is a pioneer in smart cities. Its research projects involve many fields of smart cities, including business models, data openness, energy maps, etc., and it hopes to cooperate with China in many aspects. It is reported that in 2015, Manchester's smart city project will also be implemented in Wuhan, China. In the future, the two sides will explore the applicability of the project in other cities in China.

Third, the prospects for Sino-British digital economy cooperation are worth looking forward to

At present, promoting Internet innovation has become a key direction of China's national strategic support. The government has successively issued a series of policies to support the development of the digital economy, actively promote the "Internet +" action, and guide and promote Internet innovation in many fields such as manufacturing, agriculture, energy, finance, public services, logistics, transportation, and e-commerce. The UK is also accelerating the implementation of the "Digital Britain" strategy, and by improving infrastructure, promoting digital applications for all, and providing better digital protection, it will make the UK a "digital capital" in the world.

In the field of technology, China's huge semiconductor industry market and determination to develop a semiconductor technology system, combined with the UK's unique advantages in chip design, will drive changes in the global semiconductor industry landscape. At the same time, China's national strategy of rapidly advancing new urbanization, coupled with the successful practice of smart cities in the UK, will form unprecedented rich experience in exploring the development path of the information society. In addition, in the fields of big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, the fifth generation of mobile communication technology (5G), industrial Internet, etc., there is huge potential for cooperation between China and the UK.

Exchange promotes cooperation, communication promotes mutual trust, and openness promotes win-win results. With the continuous innovation, integration and diffusion of information and communication technology, and leading the transformation, China and the UK are facing the development opportunities of the digital economy. Seizing opportunities and working together, China-UK digital economy cooperation needs to be pioneering and enterprising, further open up the market, and break down trade barriers; China-UK digital economy cooperation needs to be innovative and open up new cooperation models in emerging fields such as big data and the Internet of Things; China-UK digital economy cooperation needs to look at the long-term and jointly promote the formulation of cyberspace rules that are in line with the interests of all mankind, so that the Internet can benefit the people of China and the UK and the people of the world. (Author: Guo Xinyan)

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