The General Office of the People's Government of Hunan Province recently issued the "Several Measures for Promoting the Innovative Development of Digital Trade in Hunan." It proposed six major measures to continuously expand the scale, optimize the structure, and improve the quality and efficiency of digital trade in the province. Specifically, the document called for:

- Cultivating and strengthening digital trade business entities. Efforts will be made to strengthen integrated enterprises that combine smart manufacturing and trade, optimize knowledge-intensive service trade enterprises, expand service outsourcing enterprises, and build a digital trade ecosystem with progressive gradient levels and coordinated development among large, medium, and small enterprises. Hunan will assist digital enterprises in expanding overseas markets through financing and mergers and acquisitions, establishing international marketing networks, and other methods.

- Cultivating and expanding characteristic digital trade clusters. Relying on the integration of Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan, Hunan will advance the internationalization of digital industrial chains and innovation chains, and create a digital trade pattern led by Changsha, supported by Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, and radiating to drive the coordinated development of other regions. The province will support the Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industrial Park, CEC Software Park, and others in building clusters for digital products and trade, fostering a whole chain integrated development ecosystem for digital content, large AI models, and audio-video equipment. Hunan will expand new business forms such as cloud tourism and immersive experiences in the Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Zone to boost exports of digital cultural tourism services.

- Promoting collaborative development of industry and trade in digital economy. Hunan will fully leverage its profound cultural heritage and the strengths of its cultural sector, continuously advance the integration of culture and technology, and vigorously develop original high-quality works in animation and gaming, online audio-visual content, digital cultural and creative products, digital publishing, digital media, and digital museums, to build a brand for Hunan culture going global. The province will encourage the export of digital cultural products, and provide policy-based support to business entities and institutions engaged in product translation, cross-border online content distribution, and intellectual property rights protection.

- Boosting the development of digital trade sub-sectors. Hunan will drive exports of high-tech, high-value-added, and high-growth products such as artificial intelligence, green power equipment, life and health, and aerospace products, and vigorously cultivate leading enterprises in digital technology trade. The province will enhance international cooperation with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in such areas as agricultural information technology, agricultural digitalization, and R&D applications, and promote the joint development of digital technology application centers and overseas cooperation parks in industries such as rice and seed industries.

- Elevating the level of opening up and collaboration in the digital field. Hunan will implement the negative list system for cross-border trade in services, do well in policy publicity and interpretation as well as market access management, and enhance the capacity for open supervision and risk prevention and control in the digital field. The province will make good use of national-level platforms such as the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Pioneering Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation to build innovative and leading projects in such fields as cross-border e-commerce, artificial intelligence, medical care, education, and agriculture.

- Enhancing the level of support and guarantee for digital trade. Hunan will improve the statistical monitoring system for digital trade at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, and strengthen cross-departmental information sharing and data exchange among commerce, foreign exchange, and other departments. The province will encourage government departments, universities, and enterprises to jointly build digital trade think tanks and cooperate in practical talent training, promoting the integrated development of industry, academia, research, and application.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn