Wuzhen gears up to play pivotal role in digital economy

Wuzhen's expertise in internet enhancement and IT is expected to provide a key platform in Zhejiang province for developing a digital economy, according to Sheng Yongjun, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Tongxiang Municipal Committee.

The fifth World Internet Conference (WIC) will be held this November in Wuzhen, a river town in east China's Zhejiang province. [Photo by Yu Tiantian/Xinhua]

Wuzhen, an ancient river town in Tongxiang city, has become the permanent home of the World Internet Conference (WIC), also known as the Wuzhen Summit, since the first meeting was held in 2014.

"We have seized the opportunity," Sheng said, referring to the influence of successful hosting of WIC in developing a digital economy that has rapidly transformed the regional industrial structure.

Since the first WIC Wuzhen Summit, Tongxiang city has introduced 565 digital economy-based projects, with total planned investment of 37.73 billion yuan (US$5.41 billion) and a registered capital of 2.5 billion yuan.

From January to August this year, the city's software and information service industry achieved operating income of 250 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 81.8 percent, according to official data.

Sheng pointed out that, with the number of enterprises increasing rapidly each year, the city has been able to become a provincial information economy demonstration zone and a provincial software and IT industry entrepreneurship base.

"Companies and investors across the country are welcome to settle in Wuzhen and take advantage of its strengths in resources, technology and innovative people, along with the platform of the Wuzhen Avenue Sci-Tech Innovation Zone," Sheng said.

The latter's planned area is about 125 square kilometers, accounting for 17 percent of Tongxiang's urban area, and it is expected to eventually produce over 80 percent of the city's GDP. There are four major function areas: internet industrial zone, fashion industrial zone, livable smart new city and the advanced manufacturing industrial zone, aiming to bring in various high-end business in these areas in the future.

For start-ups like Tongdun Technology, a third-party intelligent risk management service provider, Tongxiang's preferential policies support innovative ability and development potential.

"We sci-tech companies are happy to see the government is willing to implement the Internet Plus government service model, where lies huge opportunities for us to expand and innovate internet products and services," said Jiang Tao, the CEO and co-founder of Tongdun Technology.

The company is providing various solutions with regard to anti-fraud technologies such as device fingerprint, proxy detection, and decision engine to improve government and bank's risk control capabilities, Jiang said.

Tongxiang city is promoting an overall information infrastructure to support the development of digital economy. A total of 2,507 4G base stations have been built across the city, creating full network coverage and wifi hotspots in major public places.

According to Sheng, the digital economy will be the priority of Tongxiang's economic development, and Wuzhen will be built into the high point of the digital economy in Zhejiang province.

Looking ahead, Sheng said that the next step was to foster new economic growth points, including big data, cloud computing, internet of things and smart manufacturing, in a bid to better improve the integration of industrialization and information.

"By 2022, the total output of digital economy in Tongxiang is expected to reach over 50 billion yuan," the official said.