China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) disclosed on Sept. 19 that they have signed a cooperative agreement with China Development Bank, intending to inject 100 billion yuan ($14.63 billion) into China’s digital economy within the next five years, Economic Information Daily reported on September 20, 2018.

The money will be used to support construction in areas including big data, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, new smart city development, the creation and support of key projects in digital economy, and the facilitation of construction of the “digital Silk Road”, according to NDRC.

Some industry insiders and experts have expressed that since the country already has a huge market and profound foundation, China’s digital economy has great development potential.

Thanks to governmental departments such as the NDRC endeavoring to promote the integration of the real economy with the Internet, new forms of business and consumption models have evolved rapidly in China, making digital economy an important part of the country’s economic development, according to these insiders and experts.

China’s digital economy development index ranks second in the world, only after the US, as shown in the 2018 Global Digital Economy Development Index released on Sept. 18 by institutions including AliResearch, a business knowledge platform of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, and KPMG, one of the world’s largest professional service companies.

The report indicates that China has the highest sub-index of digital economy consumers, and that there were 772 million internet users in China by the end of 2017. China’s e-commerce user penetration rate has risen to 50 percent in just nine years, whereas it took the US 14 years to achieve the same rate.

China has constantly optimized the ecosystem for innovation, and enhanced its capability to cultivate new growth drivers, in particular, it has deepened reform to streamline administration, delegate powers, improve regulation, and strengthen services to build a better business environment and promote nationwide business innovation, said Ren Zhiwu, Deputy Secretary General of the NDRC.

New management models in favor of the prosperity of new technologies, new industries, new forms of business, and new models have gradually taken shape, explained Ren, adding that China has seen new growth points spring up constantly.

Experts pointed out that with the continuous upgrading of China’s internet infrastructure, fast-growing market size, great support from the capital market, and the consistent improvement in new forms of business and business environment, China’s digital economy will maintain a sound momentum of sustained and rapid development in the future.