The path to constructing Digital China is expansive, its significance profound, and its tasks formidable.

推进数字中国建设前景广阔，意义重大，任务艰巨。

“Digital China Construction Series (Lesson 13 of 13): Strengthen Global Planning and Systemic Advancement of Digital China,” 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 Thirteen frames Party leadership not merely as an important factor, but as the decisive force behind Digital China’s construction. The lesson also makes it central point unmistakably clear: Digital China succeeds only if the Party leads it: fully, comprehensively, and systemically.

Party Leadership: The Central Mission

Domestically, Lesson Thirteen presents Party leadership as the operating system of Digital China. The Party is described as the architect, commander, and guarantor of the strategy, responsible for global planning (整体谋划), systemic coordination (统筹推进), and ensuring that all regions and departments align with the national digital agenda.

The Party exercises this role through top-level design, dedicated organizational structures (such as the local Party committees’ cyberspace affairs commissions), mandatory performance evaluations tied to Digital China, and the creation of monitoring and assessment systems to track progress and enforce accountability.

Digital China, in this framing, is inseparable from Party leadership. Without the Party’s “overall leadership and coordination of all parties,” the system would fragment, implementation would drift, and core national goals could not be achieved.

Mobilizing National Strength

Lesson Thirteen highlights the Party’s responsibility for mobilizing the financial, human, and institutional resources that Digital China requires.

Capital: The Party directs financial flows through mechanisms like the National Industry-Finance Cooperation Platform, while requiring private capital to support digitalized development “in a standardized manner” that avoids monopoly risks, wealth polarization, and security vulnerabilities.

Talent: Cadre and civil servants are expected to strengthen their digital thinking, digital cognition, and digital skills. The Party also calls for a nationwide system to raise digital literacy among the entire population and for China to become a “Digital Talent Great Power” by 2035.

Institutions: Organizational systems and mechanisms are to be upgraded to support cross-departmental coordination, vertical linkage, and rapid policy adjustment based on monitoring and evaluation.

Mobilization is therefore comprehensive: political, organizational, financial, technological, and social.

Building a National Climate for Digitalization

Lesson Thirteen underscores that the Party must also shape the national atmosphere (良好氛围) around Digital China.

Major events like the annual Digital China Summit, high-level competitions, exhibitions, research bases, and pilot zones are framed as tools to cultivate public participation, encourage innovation, and embed Digital China as a shared national project.

Universities, enterprises, and research institutes are all called to participate. Digitalization is not simply a government program; it is a societal endeavor that the Party intends to lead, unify, and sustain.

Digital China is a political project

Digital China is a political project as much as it is a technological one. Its success depends on Party authority, Party coordination, Party discipline, and Party-guided national mobilization. In short, Lesson Thirteen teaches that all cadre must understand:

  • The Party’s core leadership role is the decisive factor in Digital China’s success, from top-level design to implementation.
  • Global planning and systemic implementation are required: Digital China must be advanced through integrated planning across levels, regions, and sectors, not as isolated projects.
  • Institutional architecture matters: improving the organizational system and mechanism is essential to coordinating departments, evaluating progress, and enforcing accountability.
  • Capital and talent must be guided: financial resources and social (private) capital must support Digital China in a standardized way, and digital talent must be cultivated at scale.
  • A favorable social atmosphere is a strategic resource: summits, competitions, research bases, and propaganda all help embed Digital China as a shared national undertaking.

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 conclude the series with Lesson Thirteen:

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 13: Strengthen Global Planning and Systemic Advancement of Digital China” (数字中国建设系列之十三：加强数字中国整体谋划统筹推进), 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: 10:43

Synopsis: To advance the construction of Digital China, we must fully leverage the Party’s core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. This requires global planning, comprehensive deployment, and systemic implementation across areas such as strengthening organizational leadership, improving the organizational system and mechanism, ensuring capital investment, reinforcing support for talent, and fostering a favorable atmosphere. By ensuring all tasks are put into concrete action, this will inject powerful momentum into comprehensively advancing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation through Chinese Style Modernization.

简介：推进数字中国建设要充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，从加强组织领导、健全体制机制、保障资金投入、强化人才支撑、营造良好氛围等方面整体谋划、全面部署、统筹推进，把各项任务落到实处，为以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴注入强大动力。

Terminology shortlist with footnoted definitions: Party’s core leadership role1 (党总揽全局), global planning2 (整体谋划), systemic implementation3 (统筹推进), organizational system and mechanism4 (体制机制), Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation5 (中华民族伟大复兴), Chinese Style Modernization6 (中国式现代化).

Video Transcript and Translation

Terminology shortlist and other key terms are highlighted in blue.

00:22

Constructing Digital China serves as a crucial engine for advancing Chinese Style Modernization in the digital era, and it is a powerful pillar for forging new national competitive advantages. The path to constructing Digital China is expansive, its significance profound, and its tasks formidable. In recent years, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have formulated a series of strategic plans for Digital China. These have enriched and refined policy systems across areas like the digital economy, data as a factor of production, digital government, and digital infrastructure.

建设数字中国是数字时代推进中国式现代化的重要引擎，是构筑国家竞争新优势的有力支撑。推进数字中国建设前景广阔，意义重大，任务艰巨。近年来，围绕数字中国建设，党中央、国务院制定了一系列战略规划，丰富完善了数字经济、数据要素、数字政府、数字基础设施等方面的政策体系。

00:53

Continuously advancing legislation and supporting measures in areas such as digital governance, cross-border data flow, and data security has outlined and shaped the global layout and developmental direction for Digital China construction. In 2022 alone, the state officially released 38 laws, departmental regulations, and supporting normative documents.

持续推进数字治理、数据跨境流动、数据安全等方面的立法与配套措施，勾勒和谋划出数字中国建设的整体布局和发展方向。仅2022年，国家正式发布的法律、部门规章以及配套规范文件就达38项。

01:16

Building on this foundation, to advance the construction of Digital China, we must fully leverage the Party’s core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. This effort begins in five areas: strengthening organizational leadership, improving the organizational system and mechanism, ensuring capital investment, reinforcing support for talent, and fostering a favorable atmosphere. This requires global planning, comprehensive deployment, and systemic implementation to ensure all tasks are put into concrete action. This will strongly support Chinese Style Modernization, and in turn, comprehensively advance the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.

在此基础上，推进数字中国建设，还要充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用。从加强组织领导、健全体制机制、保障资金投入、强化人才支撑、营造良好氛围等五方面入手。整体谋划，全面部署，统筹推进，把各项任务落到实处，强力推进中国式现代化，进而全面推进中华民族伟大复兴。

01:50

First, strengthen organizational leadership. At the central level, uphold and strengthen the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the construction of Digital China. Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission7 shall enhance systemic coordination, global advancement, and supervision implementation. The Party’s leadership must be effectively integrated into all aspects and every stage of Digital China construction.

一是加强组织领导。在中央层面坚持和加强党对数字中国建设的全面领导，在党中央集中统一领导下，中央网络安全和信息化委员会加强对数字中国建设的统筹协调、整体推进、督促落实，要切实把党的领导贯穿到数字中国建设各方面和全过程。

02:18

Systemically advance major institutional innovations and the implementation of key strategies for Digital China construction. At the local and departmental levels, fully leverage the role of local Party committees’ cyberspace affairs commissions, improve decision making and coordination mechanisms, and prioritize digitalized development in local work agendas. Responsibilities must be earnestly fulfilled, with relevant departments improving policy measures according to their assigned functions, strengthening resource integration and synergy, and forming a concerted working force.

统筹推进数字中国建设重大机制创新，重大战略落地实施。在地方和各部门层面充分发挥地方党委网络安全和信息化委员会作用，健全议事协调机制，将数字化发展摆在本地区工作重要位置。切实落实责任，各有关部门按照职责分工，完善政策措施，强化资源整合和力量协同，形成工作合力。

02:52

Efforts should be made to encourage all regions and departments to strengthen resource integration and coordination of efforts, place greater emphasis on digitalization work, and actively explore reform measures suited to digitalized development. Effective practices that are replicable and scalable should be promptly summarized to jointly advance tangible progress in Digital China construction.

要努力推动各地区各部门强化资源整合和力量协同，更加突出数字化工作的重要性，积极探索适应数字化发展的改革举措。及时总结可复制、可推广的经验做法，共同推动数字中国建设取得实效。

03:13

Second, improve the organizational system and mechanism. The construction of Digital China spans all levels, national, provincial, municipal, and county, and involves multiple departments. It cannot be advanced independently by any single department or region. It is therefore essential to strengthen resource integration and coordination of efforts. To this end, a systemic coordination mechanism for the construction of Digital China must be established and improved, so that major issues in digitalized development can be addressed in a timely manner. Cross-departmental coordination and vertical linkage must be promoted to ensure effective oversight and implementation of major tasks and key projects.

二是健全体制机制。数字中国建设贯穿国家、省、市、县等各层级、各部门，不是单一部门、单一区域能够独立推进的。必须强化资源整合和力量协同，这就需要建立健全数字中国建设统筹协调机制，及时研究解决数字化发展重大问题。推动跨部门协同和上下联动，抓好重大任务和重大工程的督促落实。

03:47

To improve the organization system and mechanism, it is also necessary to carry out monitoring and evaluation of Digital China development. On May 23, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the 2022 Digital China Development Report, which systematically summarized the main achievements made by various regions and departments in advancing Digital China in 2022. The report included a regional assessment of Digital China development and outlined the priorities for Digital China work in 2023.

健全体制机制，还需要开展数字中国发展监测评估。2023年5月23日，国家互联网信息办公室发布 “数字中国发展报告2022，” 系统总结了2022年各地区各部门推进数字中国建设取得的主要成效。进行了数字中国发展地区评价，展望了2023年数字中国发展工作。

04:17

A systemic and comprehensive policy evaluation system, paired with specific, actionable, measurable, and verifiable concrete requirements, can guide all parties in continuously adjusting their policy approaches and ensure the orderly advancement of Digital China’s various tasks. This monitoring and evaluation process will be carried out on an ongoing basis, with continuous refinement of monitoring and assessment methods. It will strengthen the overall analysis and outcome evaluation of digitalized development across regions, using evaluation to drive development.

系统完备的政策评估体系，以及可操作、可衡量、可检验的具体要求，可以指导各方不断调整政策布局，保障数字中国建设各项任务有序推进。这种监测评估将会持续开展，并将优化监测和评价方法。加强对各地数字化发展的整体研判和效果评估，以评估促发展。

04:47

Digital China construction has also become an assessment indicator for Party and government leading cadres. The Plan for the Global Layout of Digital China Construction explicitly states that the implementation of Digital China work will serve as a reference in the performance evaluations of relevant Party and government leading cadres. This requirement is certain to enhance their sense of responsibility and motivation, compelling localities and departments to deepen their understanding of Digital China construction and continuously improving their digital development capabilities. It represents a foundational and crucial step toward improving systemic institutional coordination.

数字中国建设工作还成为了党政领导干部的考核指标。 “数字中国建设整体布局规划”明确提出，将数字中国建设工作情况作为对有关党政领导干部考核评价的参考。这一要求势必激发这些党政领导干部的责任和动力，倒逼地方和各部门加深对数字中国建设的认识，不断提升数字建设能力，是完善统筹协调机制的基础和关键一步。

05:23

Third, ensure financial support.The capital market plays an important role in driving digitalized development. It is essential to innovate funding support mechanisms and strengthen systemic guidance on various funding sources. This will help optimize the investment and financing structure of the digital economy and increase support for key areas and core technologies.

三是保障资金投入。资本市场在推动数字化发展方面发挥着重要作用，要创新资金扶持方式，加强对各类资金的统筹引导。从而优化数字经济投融资结构，增加对关键领域及核心技术的支持力度。

05:47

At the same time, platforms such as the National Industry-Finance Cooperation Platform should be leveraged to guide financial resources toward supporting digitalized development. The economy is the body, and finance is its lifeblood. In February 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with fiscal and financial regulatory authorities, launched the National Industry-Finance Cooperation Platform, creating a bridge to enhance the efficiency and quality of the digital economy.

与此同时，要发挥国家产融合作平台等作用，引导金融资源支持数字化发展。经济是机体，金融是血脉。2021年2月，工业和信息化部会同财政、金融监管等部门发起成立了国家产融合作平台，为提升数字经济效率和质量搭建了桥梁。

06:15

In addition, it is necessary to encourage and guide capital to participate in the construction of Digital China in a standardized manner, and to build an investment and financing system that enables effective participation by social (i.e. private) capital. Digitalized development requires substantial financial support, and diverse, flexible social capital can effectively supplement the limited investment capacity of government and public sectors. While this can promote the healthy development of digitalization, it also presents numerous drawbacks, including new forms of wealth disparity, capital monopolies, and threats to the People’s Livelihood,  and national sovereignty and security.

此外，还要鼓励引导资本规范参与数字中国建设，构建社会资本有效参与的投融资体系。数字化发展需要大量资金支持，丰富而灵活的社会资本可以有效补充政府和公共部门的投入不足。促进数字化健康发展，但也存在导致新型贫富分化、资本垄断、民生与主权安全风险等诸多弊端。

06:46

Emphasizing the need for capital to participate in the construction of Digital China in a standardized manner means that social capital must comply with laws, regulations, and industry standards when engaging in investment and financing activities related to digitalized development. It is essential to avoid illegal or non-compliant behavior, actions that harm the public interest, or those that disrupt market order.

强调资本规范参与数字中国建设，即要求社会资本在参与数字化发展的投融资活动时，必须遵守法律法规和行业规范。避免出现违法违规、损害公共利益、破坏市场秩序等行为。

07:04

To build a finance and investment system that enables effective participation of social capital, efforts must be made on multiple fronts, including improving relevant policies and regulations, innovating investment and finance mechanisms, optimizing project management processes, and strengthening risk prevention and control.

而构建社会资本有效参与的投融资体系，则要从完善相关政策法规、创新投融资机制、优化项目管理流程。加强风险防控等多个层面来推进。

07:21

Fourth, we must strengthen support for talent. This involves enhancing the digital thinking, digital understanding, and digital skills of leading cadres and civil servants, systemically arranging the number of disciplines and specialties in the digital domain, and cultivating innovative, application-oriented, interdisciplinary talent. We also need to build a digital literacy and skills development and training system that covers the entire population and fuses urban and rural areas.

四是强化人才支撑。增强领导干部和公务员数字思维、数字认知、数字技能，统筹布局一批数字领域学科专业点，培养创新型、应用型、复合型人才。构建覆盖全民、城乡融合的数字素养与技能发展培育体系。

07:46

With the rapid digitalized development of various sectors in the economy and society, digital literacy and skills, core competencies for adapting to digitalized development, have become essential foundational capabilities for both individuals and organizations. In October 2021, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued the Action Plan for Improving National Digital Literacy and Skills, defining digital literacy and skills as a set of qualities and capabilities that citizens of a digital society should possess for learning, work, and daily life. These include the ability to access, create, use, evaluate, interact with, share, and innovate with digital content, as well as to ensure digital security and uphold digital ethics.

随着经济社会各领域数字化的快速发展，数字素养与技能作为适应数字化发展的核心能力，成为个人与组织发展重要的必备基础技能。2021年10月，中央网络安全和信息化委员会印发 “提升全民数字素养与技能行动纲要，” 将数字素养与技能界定为数字社会公民学习、工作、生活应具备的数字获取、制作、使用、评价、交互、分享、创新、安全保障、伦理道德等一系列素质与能力的集合。

08:29

The action plan set out measures to improve digital literacy and skills across the entire population and established targeted goals for enhancing the digital governance capabilities of leading cadre and civil servants. It also set the objective of basically establishing China as a Digital Talent Great Power by 2035, with significantly improved levels of digital literacy and skills among the population and a more prominent role for high-end digital talent in driving development.

对提升全民数字素养与技能作出了部署，对领导干部和公务员提出了着重提升数字治理能力的目标要求。并提出2035年基本建成数字人才强国，全民数字素养与技能等能力达到更高水平，高端数字人才引领作用凸显。

08:52

Fifth, foster a favorable atmosphere. On April 28, 2023, the Sixth Digital China Summit concluded. During the summit, the latest outcomes of the “Two Exhibitions and One Competition,” namely the Digital China Construction Achievements Exhibition, Digital Product Expo, and the Digital China Innovation Contest, were prominently showcased. The summit successfully hosted the opening ceremony, the main forum, and 20 sub-forums covering topics such as data resources, digital government affairs, and digital governance. It also published the 2022 Digital China Development Report and other important reports.

五是营造良好氛围。2023年4月28日，第六届数字中国建设峰会闭幕。峰会期间集中展示了以数字中国建设成果展数字产品博览会及数字中国创新大赛为代表的 “两展一赛” 最新成果，成功举办了开幕式、主论坛及数据资源、数字政务、数字治理等20个分论坛，发布了 “数字中国发展报告2022年” 等重要报告。

09:30

Since the inaugural Digital China Summit in the spring of 2018, the remarkable achievements of Digital China, the vibrant growth of the digital ecosystem, and the thriving momentum of the digital economy have been deeply felt by the public.

从2018年春首届数字中国建设峰会开启到现在，人们充分感受到了数字中国建设的成就斐然，数字生态培育的生机蓬勃，数字经济发展的千帆竞发。

09:49

Advancing the construction of Digital China requires fostering a favorable atmosphere and encouraging the active participation of universities, research institutions, and enterprises. A number of Digital China research bases should be established, and comprehensive pilot programs for Digital China construction should be systemically carried out to advance reform experiments through comprehensive integration.

推进数字中国建设需要营造良好氛围，要推动高等学校、研究机构、企业等共同参与数字中国建设。建立一批数字中国研究基地，统筹开展数字中国建设综合试点工作，综合集成推进改革试验。

10:09

Successfully organize major events such as the Digital China Construction Summit, host high-level domestic and international competitions in the digital domain, and promote broad public awareness and acceptance of digitalization concepts.

办好数字中国建设峰会等重大活动，举办数字领域高规格国内国际系列赛事，推动数字化理念深入人心。

10:21

Foster a positive atmosphere in which the whole of society pays close attention to and actively participates in the construction of Digital China, enabling all people to jointly build and jointly share the benefits of digitalized development.

营造全社会共同关注、积极参与数字中国建设的良好氛围，让全体人民共建共享数字化发展成果。

Footnotes

  1. Party’s core leadership role (党总揽全局). Literally, “The Party Fully Controls the Overall Situation,” but the official Party-state translation is “The Party Exercises Overall Leadership.” ↩︎
  2. global planning (整体谋划). Literally “holistic planning” but contextually “global planning” better reflects the meaning. By Party design, Digital China systemically coordinates the domestic and international digital environments to achieve a common end state. We call frameworks like this a “global” strategy. See, “Digital China’s New ‘Global’ Layout, not ‘Overall’ Layout.” ↩︎
  3. systemic implementation (统筹推进). Literally “coordinated implementation” but contextually “systemic implementation” better reflects the meaning, as Digital China is systems-level issue, and the term “统筹” integrates systems thinking (系统观念) into planning to address complex issues of economic and social development, see “Use Systems Thinking to Systemically Plan Economic and Social Development,” Economic Daily, January 24, 2022.  ↩︎
  4. organizational system and mechanism (体制机制). The organizational system and mechanism refers to the entire institutional and operational architecture of a given domain. To give a sense of function and scope, General Secretary Xi Jinping directed that the organizational system and mechanism for major epidemic prevention and control be “improved” at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.  ↩︎
  5. Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation (中华民族伟大复兴). “National rejuvenation… represents the common denominator aspiration of Chinese elites since the country’s humiliation in the mid-19th century Opium Wars. This aspiration is to transform China into not only a modern, powerful, country, but also a country respected for its achievements across the all fields of human endeavor by which great powers measure themselves, from prosperity to military power to cultural influence, to scientific discovery,” see Daniel Tobin, “How Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’ Should Have Ended U.S. Debate on Beijing’s Ambitions,” Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, March 13, 2020. ↩︎
  6. Chinese Style Modernization (中国式现代化). Party commentary describes the driving and leading role of Digital China (thru informatization and digitalization) in Chinese Style (socialist) Modernization. The digital transformation of socialist modernization will give China an edge both domestically (by improving societal efficiency and social equity) and globally (by offering a superior alternative to emerging Western developmental models tied to digital capitalism). ↩︎
  7. The Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission transferred its responsibilities regarding Digital China to the National Data Administration in March 2023, see “National Data Administration’s Five Toughest Battles.” ↩︎