From Smart Cities to Digital Communities, from smart industries to digital products, “digital” tentacles have increasingly extended to every corner, profoundly changing people’s lives.
从智慧城市到数字社区，从智能产业到数字产品，”数字” 的触角已日益延伸到每一个角落，深刻改变着人们的生活。
“Digital China Construction Series (Lesson 7 of 13): Build an Inclusive and Convenient Digital Society,” Beijing Party Member Education Network, April 11, 2025
On April 11, 2025, the Beijing Party Member Education Network released a remarkable 13-lesson educational series on China’s national digital strategy, Digital China. Designed as a foundational introduction, the course targets Party cadre and members and is intended to raise awareness, elevate political understanding, and standardize implementation.
Lesson Seven teaches that the overarching goal of Digital Society is the systemic transformation of society through digitalization. The lesson also makes its central point unmistakably clear: development of Digital Society will safeguard Party rule by enhancing and securing the People’s Livelihood.
Understanding the reach of Digital China
This lesson uses a beautifully metaphorical sentence to emphasize the pervasiveness of the Digital China strategy. The word 触角 literally means “tentacles” or “antennae,” and it is used in Chinese to describe the reach or influence of something spreading out. The choice of the word 触角 in Chinese policy writing is particularly interesting because it implies that Digital China is an active, sensory system, like a nervous system for the state, rather than just a passive set of tools. Digital transformation is systemic. It is not just about computers, but instead about how “digital” will touch everything from governance to social life.
Digital Society safeguards Party rule
While rooted in Marxist theory, this vision takes shape in practical initiatives like Smart Cities and Digital Villages. Ultimately, the development of Digital Society will safeguard Party rule by enhancing and securing the People’s Livelihood. Building a Digital Society requires the Party’s focused efforts on advancing digitalization and intelligentization across three key areas: public services, social governance, and daily life.
Digital public services accessible to all
First, the development of Digital Society is not just about technological advancement but about fostering digital public services that are accessible to all, especially in critical areas like education, healthcare, employment, elder care, and childcare. The foundation of a successful Digital Society lies in its ability to improve lives and meet people’s growing expectations for a better future.
Digital social governance enhances precision and outcomes
Second, a key pillar of Digital Society is digital social governance, which involves using digital tools to enhance the precision and effectiveness of managing social affairs. This goes beyond service provision to actively shaping how society functions through data-driven, responsive governance mechanisms. One prime example is the ongoing development of Digital Villages, which aim to reduce urban-rural disparities and empower rural revitalization.
Intelligentized ecosystems improve daily life
Third, Digital Society seeks to build seamless, intelligentized ecosystems that enhance daily life. Digital Life has evolved from simple applications like payments and shopping (version 1.0) to more sophisticated systems enabled by AI, 5G, and blockchain (version 2.0), and now into immersive and interactive experiences characteristic of version 3.0. These developments are rapidly transforming urban infrastructure, public service delivery, and consumption patterns.
A Series Roadmap
If you are new to Digital China, you may want to begin with my overview of the strategy and a shortlist of key concepts that cadre are expected to master. Both will help you navigate the lessons.
Let’s continue the series with Lesson Seven:
Each lesson’s web address is linked to its original Chinese-language title. Note: Some of these links may have security certificate issues. For your safety, I’ve also embedded a clean, archived copy of each video in the corresponding post. You can choose which version to view, but I recommend using the archived copy for a safer experience.
“Digital China Construction Series 7/13: Build an Inclusive and Convenient Digital Society” (数字中国建设系列之七: 构建普惠便捷的数字社会), Beijing Party Member Education Network (北京党员教育网), April 11, 2025
Archived Video
Speaker: Beijing Guoheng Zhilin Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. (北京国恒智林文化传播有限公司)
Length: 09:36
Synopsis: One of the goals for Digital China construction in 2025 is to achieve “significant results in making Digital Society more precise, inclusive, and convenient.” To achieve this goal, efforts must be made in three areas: public services, social governance, and the People’s Livelihood, in order to build an inclusive and convenient Digital Society.
简介：2025年数字中国建设的目标之一，就是“数字社会精准化普惠化便捷化取得显著成效”。要达成这一目标，就要从公共服务、社会治理、人民生活三个方面入手，构建普惠便捷的数字社会。
Terminology shortlist with footnoted definitions: Digital Society1 (数字社会), (digital) public services2 (数字公共服务), (digital) social governance3 (数字社会治理), People’s Livelihood4 (人民生活).
Video Transcript and Translation
Terminology shortlist and other key terms are highlighted in blue.
00:25
Whether the people can fully enjoy the dividends brought by digitalization and whether their expectations for a better life can be continuously met are the main indicators of the effectiveness of Digital Society development. The construction of Digital Society should be people-centered and always take protecting and improving the People’s Livelihood as its core mission.
能否让人民群众充分享受数字化带来的红利，能否不断满足人民群众对美好生活的期望，是衡量数字社会发展成效的主要标志。数字社会建设要以人民为中心，始终把保障和改善民生作为核心使命。
00:46
As proposed in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Long-Range Objectives, we should accelerate the pace of Digital Society construction, adapt to the new trend of digital technology being fully integrated into social interactions and daily life, and promote innovation in public services and the mode of social operation. We should build a digital life that everyone can enjoy. To achieve a Digital Life that “everyone can enjoy,” we must work hard on inclusiveness, convenience, and precision, and focus on improving the level of digitalization in key areas of the People’s Livelihood such as education, medical care, employment, elderly care, and childcare.
正如 “十四五” 规划和2035年远景目标纲要所提出的，加快数字社会建设步伐，适应数字技术全面融入社会交往和日常生活新趋势，促进公共服务和社会运行方式创新。构筑全民畅享的数字生活。要达到数字生活 “全民畅享”，就要在普惠、便捷、精准上下功夫，着力提升教育、医疗、就业、养老、托育等重点民生领域数字化水平。
1:21
We must promote different regions and different groups to fully enjoy public service resources and especially take care of the needs of vulnerable groups, such as the disabled and the elderly. We must accelerate the construction of Smart Cities and Digital Villages. The “Plan for the Global Layout of Digital China Construction” also lists “remarkable results in the precision, inclusiveness and convenience of Digital Society” as one of the goals of Digital China construction in 2025.
推动不同地区, 不同群体充分享受公共服务资源，尤其要照顾弱势群体，如残疾人和老年人的需求。加快建设智慧城市和数字乡村。”数字中国建设整体布局规划” 里，也将 “数字社会精准化、普惠化、便捷化取得显著成效”，作为2025年数字中国建设的目标之一。
1:50
The requirement of “building a Digital Society that is inclusive and convenient” is clearly put forward, focusing on three aspects: (1) public services, (2) social governance, and (3) the People’s Livelihood. By implementing the National Education Digitalization Strategic Action, and by developing digital health among other efforts, we promote the inclusiveness of digital public services. By implementing the Digital Village Development Action among other efforts, we promote the precision of digital social governance. By popularizing smart and convenient living among other efforts, we aim to promote the intelligentization of Digital Life, allowing digital technologies to fully integrate into social interactions and daily life.
明确提出 “构建普惠便捷的数字社会” 这一要求，主要聚焦公共服务、社会治理、人民生活三个方面。通过实施国家教育数字化战略行动，发展数字健康等，促进数字公共服务普惠化。通过实施数字乡村发展行动等, 推进数字社会治理精准化。通过普及智慧便民生活等，推进数字生活智能化，让数字技术全面融入社会交往和日常生活。
02:28
First, promote the universalization of digital public services. Public services are directly related to the vital interests of the people and are an important part of social construction. Their informatization and digitalization will help innovate the supply mode and improve the quality of services. Especially in key areas such as education and medical care, we must vigorously implement the National Education Digitalization Strategic Action, improve the National Smart Education Platform, develop digital health, and standardize the development of Internet diagnosis and treatment and Internet hospitals.
促进数字公共服务普惠化。公共服务直接关系人民群众切身利益，是社会建设的重要内容。其信息化、数字化有助于创新供给方式，提升服务品质。尤其是在教育、医疗这些重点领域，要大力实施国家教育数字化战略行动，完善国家智慧教育平台，发展数字健康，规范互联网诊疗和互联网医院发展。
03:01
Education is a quasi-public service product. In the digitalized construction of education, promoting inclusive and fair education is an important goal. With the implementation of the National Education Digitalization Strategic Action, the campus network access rate in my country has reached 100%, and the proportion of primary and secondary schools with multimedia classrooms has reached 99.5%.
教育是准公共服务产品，在教育数字化建设中，促进普惠公平是重要目标。随着国家教育数字化战略行动的实施。我国校园网络接入率已达100%，拥有多媒体教室的中小学占比达99.5%。
03:22
In March 2022, the National Smart Education Public Service Platform was officially launched, integrating resources like the National Primary and Secondary School Smart Education Platform, the National Vocational Education Smart Education Platform, the National Higher Education Smart Education Platform, and the National 24365 College Student Employment Service Platform, connecting hundreds of thousands of schools and serving hundreds of millions of teachers, students, and members of the public.
2022年3月国家智慧教育公共服务平台正式上线，整合集成了国家中小学智慧教育平台、国家职业教育智慧教育平台，国家高等教育智慧教育平台和国家24365大学生就业服务平台等资源，连接数十万所学校，面向数亿的教师、在校生及社会人士。
03:48
It has brought together a huge amount of high-quality course resources for basic education, vocational education and higher education, greatly facilitating the public’s access to educational resources. However, promoting the digitalized inclusive development of education also faces challenges. Taking the region as an example, compared with East China, South China, North China and other regions, there is a large gap in the level of educational facilities in Southwest China, Northwest China and other regions.
汇集了巨量的基础教育、职业教育和高等教育优质课程资源，大大方便了公众对教育资源的获取。但推进教育数字化普惠发展也面临挑战。以地域为例，与华东、华南、华北等地区相比，西南、西北等地区的教育设施配置水平存在较大差距。
04:13
In addition, daily operation, maintenance and update of digital technologies are burdensome. The process of promoting the digitalized construction of education should adhere to the principles like co-construction and sharing, demand-oriented, and coordinated linkage. We must ensure that the results of digitalized construction benefit everyone. In terms of medical care, according to the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Health Informatization,” by 2025, our country will initially build a unified, authoritative, and interconnected National Health Information Platform Support and Guarantee System.
且数字技术的日常运行维护与更新负担较重。教育数字化建设的推进过程应坚持共建共享、需求为王、协同联动等原则。确保数字化建设成果惠及人人。医疗方面，根据 “’十四五’全民健康信息化规划，” 到2025年，我国将初步建设形成统一权威、互联互通的全民健康信息平台支撑保障体系。
04:46
The public medical and health institutions and the National Health Information Platform have basically achieved full coverage. According to the survey, the scale of China’s digital health market in 2022 is 562.2 billion yuan. Among them, the scale of the Internet medical market is 310.2 billion yuan. As of December 2022, the scale of Internet medical users in our country reached 363 million, accounting for 34% of the total Internet users, and it is the application with the fastest user growth in 2022.
基本实现公立医疗卫生机构与全民健康信息平台联通全覆盖。据调查，2022年中国数字健康市场规模5,622亿元。其中，互联网医疗市场规模3,102亿元。截至2022年12月，我国互联网医疗用户规模达3.63亿，占网民整体的34%，是2022年用户规模增长最快的应用。
05:17
In October 2015, Wuzhen Internet Hospital debuted, the first real Internet hospital in China. The first electronic prescription from an Internet hospital in China was issued here, opening the entire online diagnosis and treatment process.
2015年10月，乌镇互联网医院首次亮相，这是全国第一家真正意义上的互联网医院。在这里开出了全国首张互联网医院电子处方。打通了在线诊疗全流程服务。
05:34
Later, in 2016, “Internet + Healthcare” was first raised to the national strategic level. In 2018, the state issued a document to encourage and support the development of Internet hospitals. In 2020, “Internet + Medical Insurance Payment” gradually broke the ice. In 2022, the detailed rules for Internet diagnosis and treatment supervision were fully implemented, and the development of Internet diagnosis and treatment and Internet hospitals became increasingly standardized.
之后，2016年，”互联网+医疗健康” 首次被提至国家战略层面。2018年，国家发文鼓励支持互联网医院发展。2020年，”互联网+医保支付” 逐步破冰。2022年，互联网诊疗监管细则全面落地，互联网诊疗和互联网医院的发展日益规范。
06:05
Second, promote the precision of digital social governance. To build a Digital Society that is inclusive and convenient, we must also implement the Digital Rural Development Action in depth, and empower rural industrial development, rural construction and rural governance with digitalization. This will drive the overall modernized development of agriculture and rural areas, promote Common Prosperity for rural farmers, and thus promote the precision of digital social governance, and push Digital China construction to a new level.
推进数字社会治理精准化。构建普惠便捷的数字社会，还要深入实施数字乡村发展行动，以数字化赋能乡村产业发展、乡村建设和乡村治理。整体带动农业农村现代化发展，促进农村农民共同富裕，从而推进数字社会治理精准化，推动数字中国建设迈上新台阶。
06:34
Our country attaches great importance to the construction of Digital Villages. In 2018, the Central Government’s Document Number One first proposed the implementation of the “Digital Village Strategy.” In 2020, the National Digital Village Pilot was launched, and policy documents such as the “Outline of the Digital Village Development Strategy” and the “Digital Village Development Action Plan (2022-2025)” were successively released to continuously promote the “Digital Commerce to Revitalize Agriculture” work.
我国对于数字乡村建设十分重视。2018年中央一号文件首次提出实施 “数字乡村战略。” 2020年启动国家数字乡村试点，并相继发布 “数字乡村发展战略纲要、” “数字乡村发展行动计划 (2022~2025年)” 等政策文件，持续推进 “数商兴农” 工作。
07:01
By the end of 2022, 5G networks have covered the urban areas of all county seats in our country, achieving “broadband in every village” and “5G in every county”. Rural e-commerce continues to maintain its position as the “leader” of the rural digital economy. In 2022, national rural online retail sales reached 2.17 trillion yuan. Online education and Internet medical users in rural areas account for 31.8% and 21.5% of the total rural netizens, respectively.
截至2022年底，5G 网络已覆盖我国所有县城城区，实现 “村村通宽带，” “县县通5G” 农村电商继续保持乡村数字经济 “领头羊” 地位。2022年，全国农村网络零售额达2.17万亿元。农村地区在线教育和互联网医疗用户分别占农村网民整体的31.8%和21.5%。
07:32
In April 2023, five central departments jointly issued the “Key Points for Digital Rural Development Work in 2023,” which clarified the goals and tasks for digital rural construction. By the end of 2023, digital rural development will have made phased progress, with the number of rural broadband access users exceeding 190 million.
2023年4月，中央五部门联合印发 “2023年数字乡村发展工作要点，” 为数字乡村建设明确了目标任务。到2023年底，数字乡村发展取得阶段性进展，农村宽带接入用户数超过1.9亿。
07:55
Third, popularize the intelligentization of Digital Life. Digital life is a lifestyle based on the Internet and a series of digital technology applications. From Smart Cities to Digital Communities, from smart industries to digital products, the tentacles of “digital” have increasingly extended to every corner, profoundly changing people’s lives.
普及数字生活智能化。数字生活是以互联网和一系列数字技术应用为基础的生活方式。从智慧城市到数字社区，从智能产业到数字产品，”数字” 的触角已日益延伸到每一个角落，深刻改变着人们的生活。
08:17
Today, Digital Life is rapidly transitioning from version 2.0 to 3.0. In the era of Digital Life 1.0, applications were largely centered around payment, e-commerce, and food delivery. The Digital Life 2.0 era, driven by advancements such as 5G upgrades, the emergence of blockchain, the proliferation of smart devices, and progress in AI algorithms, gave rise to new applications like livestream e-commerce and digital currency (e-CNY).
当前数字生活正加速由2.0进入3.0时代。数字生活1.0时代，应用场景多是支付、电商和外卖。数字生活2.0时代，基于5G 升级和区块链的形成，智能设备普及，AI 算法进步，并催生了直播电商、数字人民币等新兴应用。
08:40
As we enter the era of Digital Life 3.0, artificial general intelligence applications will become widespread, enabling communication with users in ways like human interaction. Digital technologies are continuously expanding the reach of social services and user groups, increasing the supply of quality services, and steadily enhancing people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security. In response to this trend, the “Plan for the Global Layout of Digital China Construction” proposed to popularize the intelligentization of Digital Life, create smart and convenient life circles, and foster new forms of digital consumption.
到了数字生活3.0时代，通用人工智能应用将广泛出现，以如同人际交流的方式与用户进行沟通。数字技术正不断扩展社会服务覆盖范围和用户群体，扩大优质服务供给，不断提高人民群众的获得感、幸福感和安全感。针对这一趋势，”数字中国建设整体布局规划” 提出，要普及数字生活智能化，打造智慧便民生活圈，新型数字消费业态。
09:15
The future-oriented intelligentized and immersive service experience will continuously improve the level of equalization, universalization and convenience of public services, and better meet the people’s needs for a better life.
面向未来的智能化沉浸式服务体验，不断提升公共服务均等化、普惠化、便捷化水平，更好地满足人民群众美好生活的需要。
Footnotes
- Digital Society (数字社会). “Digital society is a new social form that is supported by digitalized, networkized, and intelligentized technologies, and is characterized by a high degree of fusion between physical society and digital virtual society. It is seen as a new developmental stage following agricultural society, industrial society, and information society,” see Baidu Encyclopedia “Digital Society.” ↩︎
- (digital) public services (数字公共服务). “Public services are directly related to the vital interests of the people and are an important part of social construction. Their informatization and digitalization will help innovate the supply mode and improve the quality of services. Especially in key areas such as education and medical care, we must vigorously implement the National Education Digitalization Strategic Action, improve the National Smart Education Platform, develop digital health, and standardize the development of Internet diagnosis and treatment and Internet hospitals,” see “Inside Digital China (7/13): Digital Society.” ↩︎
- (digital) social governance (数字社会治理). “Improving the social governance system is a major task advanced by the Party … with an overall requirement … to ensure political security, social stability, and the people’s safety,” see “Improve the Social Governance System,” People’s Daily, January 11, 2023, Page 9. ↩︎
- People’s Livelihood (人民生活). “Ensuring and improving People’s Livelihood helps build a better future…China works to meet people’s aspirations for a better life, with an aim to provide them with more stable jobs, higher incomes, better education, and more reliable social security,” see Ren Ping and Zhang Fan, “China steadily enhances ability to ensure livelihood during development,” People’s Daily, May 30, 2024. ↩︎