The Central Government formally linked Xi Jinping’s vision for Digital China to the Party’s ongoing National Informatization efforts for the first time on July 27, 2016, explicitly designating it as a top priority of those efforts. This event was marked by the publication of the Outline of the National Informatization Development Strategy on July 27, 2016.

July 27, 2016: The Central Government links Digital China to National Informatization for the first time and elevates it as a top priority.

Driver:
The General Offices of the Central Committee and State Council publish the Outline of the National Informatization Development Strategy (中共中央办公厅 国务院办公厅印发国家信息化发展战略纲要) on July 27, 2016.

Core Evolution:
The Outline states:

“Accelerating the construction of Digital China and vigorously developing the information economy are the top priorities of informatization work” (加快建设数字中国、大力发展信息经济是信息化工作的重中之重).

Reference:
Online:  Central Government | Translation: China Copyright and Media , DigiChina

Key Points:
According to USITO: the Outline serves as “a guiding document for regulating and directing national informatization development over the next 10 years.” Among other priorities, it calls for:

  • a secure and controllable core technology system;
  • a nationwide secure and controllable data system; and
  • expanded international cooperation in cyberspace development and governance.

Analysis:
Although the 2016 Outline contains only a single reference to the importance of accelerating Digital China, appearing on page 8 of the 17-page document, it marks a critical narrative shift. For the first time, the Party formally aligned Xi’s emerging vision for Digital China with the authoritative framework of National Informatization. This laid the groundwork for Digital China to eventually subsume informatization rather than merely support it.

At the same time, Party leaders were careful not to overstate the shift. As Zhuang Rongwen, then Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, emphasized at the State Council Information Office press conference following the Outline’s release, “the overall objective of the National Informatization Development Strategy is to build a Cyber Great Power” (国家信息化发展战略总目标是建设网络强国).

Digital China would not be elevated to the level of a national strategy until the following year, alongside important Party clarifications on theory, including the relationship among China’s elite digital strategies and the distinct role each would play.

Commentary:
In People’s Daily on July 28, 2016, Zhuang Rongwen described the Outline as Beijing’s decision to seize the historic opportunity offered by the Information Revolution to advance the Party’s grand strategic objective of National Rejuvenation. Whether China succeeds in doing so, he argued, would constitute “a major test of the Party’s governing capacity.” Zhuang Rongwen, “Drive Modernization with Informatization: Help Realize the Chinese Dream of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation,” People’s Daily, July 28, 2016.

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