The lesson from Singapore is not that the United States should emulate Digital China. It is that serious digital strategy requires serious study of how other major powers conceptualize and implement theirs. Ignoring Digital China does not make it less real; it only leaves us less prepared to understand, respond to, or engage with it.
Like Singapore’s Smart Nation, Digital China is a comprehensive national approach to digital transformation. Unlike Singapore, however, the United States has yet to formally acknowledge Digital China as China’s national digital strategy, let alone study it systematically. That omission is a mistake, and Singapore’s example shows why.
Singapore does not treat Digital China as a buzzword or meme or propaganda slogan. It treats it as what it is: a high-level, integrated national plan that shapes China’s approach to the digital economy, governance, and society. Singaporean officials openly reference Digital China (数字中国) in public forums and use that understanding to inform decisions on digital cooperation. Chinese experts, in turn, study Singapore’s Smart Nation ( 智慧国) initiative as an exemplar of “systems thinking” on digital transformation.
The contrast with the United States is striking. Washington frames its relationship with China primarily as a technology competition, yet rarely acknowledges, much less names, China’s overarching digital strategy. This weakens coordinated analysis, blurs policy communication, and makes it harder to assess how individual technologies, regulations, and infrastructure projects fit into Beijing’s broader design.
You cannot compete with, or communicate about, a strategy you refuse to name.
A recent speech by Singapore Minister of State Low Yen Ling illustrates the difference. Speaking at the China–Singapore Trade in Services Innovation Forum in Shanghai, Low explicitly referenced China’s “comprehensive Digital China plan” when discussing digital ecosystems (数字生态系统).
In her speech to the China-Singapore Trade in Services Innovation Forum,1 Minister of State Low Yen Ling includes a section on digital ecosystems (数字生态系统) where she highlights both Smart Nation ( 智慧国) and Digital China (数字中国). In doing so, she placed Smart Nation and Digital China side by side, treating both as national-level frameworks for shaping economic growth, governance capacity, and social development. This is systems thinking in practice and it is notably absent from U.S. public discourse.
The lesson from Singapore is not that the United States should emulate Digital China. It is that serious digital strategy requires serious study of how other major powers conceptualize and implement theirs. Ignoring Digital China does not make it less real; it only leaves us less prepared to understand, respond to, or engage with it.
Perhaps Washington should take a page from Singapore’s playbook.
A lightly edited Google Translate machine translation of Minister of State Low Yen Ling’s comments on digital ecosystems follows below:
"Speech by MOS Low Yen Ling at China-Singapore Trade in Services Innovation Forum," Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry, November 6, 2023
First, countries must commit to improving their own digital ecosystem.
首先，各国必须致力于提升各自的数码生态系统。
Both Singapore and China realize that improving their capabilities in the digitalized domain is crucial to supporting the next stage of growth. Both Singapore and China have formulated national-level plans to strengthen their respective domestic digital ecosystems.
新加坡和中国都意识到提升数码化领域的能力，对于支持下个阶段的增长，至关重要。新中两国都制定了国家级的计划，强化各自国内的数码生态系统。
For example, Singapore’s “Smart Nation” plan aims to develop a vibrant digital economy while building a stable, secure, and inclusive digitalized society.
例如，新加坡的“智慧国”计划，旨在发展一个充满活力的数码经济，同时建设一个稳定、安全，具有包容性的数码化社会。
China has also developed a comprehensive “Digital China” plan covering the economy, governance, culture, inclusion, and sustainability.
中国也制定了一项全面的“数字中国”计划，涵盖了经济、治理、文化、包容性和可持续性。
Digitalization is also a key driver of future economic growth.
数码化也是未来经济增长的关键推动因素。
Singapore's digital economy contributed S$106 billion to our country's GDP in 2022 and created more than 200,000 jobs.
新加坡的数码经济在2022年，为我国的国内生产总值，贡献了1,060亿新元，创造了超过20万个就业机会。
China's digital economy grew by 50.2 trillion yuan in 2022.
中国的数字经济在2022年，增长了50.2万亿元人民币。
The asset-light, low-threshold digital economy not only has the characteristics of rapid development, but also accelerates trade connections between various economies, and also provides more diversified development potential. A vibrant digital ecosystem can attract international companies to invest.
轻资产、低门槛的数码经济，除了有快速发展的特点，也加快了各个经济体之间的贸易连接，也提供了更多元的发展潜能。充满活力的数码生态系统，更能够吸引国际企业到来投资。
Footnote
- The China-Singapore Trade in Services Innovation Forum is a sub-forum of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a component of the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, held November 05-10, 2023. ↩︎