Li Min Huang Yunyun Luo Jie

As a vital component of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road， ASEAN is in need of vigorously developing digital economy that is facing a vast market. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2019， Chairman and CEO of Innovation Works Kai-Fu Lee said， “The integration of AI， big data and APPs is expected to be the next strong source of economic growth for countries along the Belt and Road.”

In July 2019， 2020 was designated as the China-ASEAN Year of Digital Economy Cooperation in the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting， and the cooperation of E-commerce， technological innovation， 5G networks and smart cities had been broadened. In recent years， China-ASEAN Expo （CAEXPO） has conformed to the trend and established a high-level platform for dialogue and cooperation of China-ASEAN digital economy.

ASEAN promoting the development of digital economy

Innovations in mobile terminals， big data and communication technologies have opened up vast markets for digital industries in ASEAN countries， of which Vietnam and Indonesia come out on top. According to a report， in the past four years， the size of digital economy in Indonesia increased from US$ 8 billion to US$ 40 billion， with a compound growth rate of 49%. In 2019， there were 61 million Vietnamese users surfing on the Internet on mobile devices for 3 hours and 12 minutes averagely， a significant increase compared to the past. In the future， digital consumers in Southeast Asia are expected to exceed 300 million people in 2025， with an increase of 24% over 2018， and per capita digital consumption will double to US$ 390.

Singapores Infocomm Media Development Authority announced that Singapore will soon enter the 5G era， and two independent national 5G telecommunication networks and regional networks covering specific areas will be launched since 2020. Vietnam also put forward the goal that the digital economy will account for about 20% of GDP by 2025， and the average annual increase in labor productivity will exceed 7%.

ASEAN has not laid a strong foundation for the development of digital economy even though facing a bright prospect. Lagging construction of Internet infrastructure， undistributed online payment， lacking local talents and large funding gaps are common in ASEAN countries. On the other hand， these shortcomings provide a large space for the development of ASEAN digital economy， which is imperative to seek foreign cooperation.

CAEXPO opening the door to the cooperation in digital economy widely

Since 2018， China has fully implemented the national big-data strategy to build a digital China， develop digital economy and enhance the integration of the Internet， big data， AI and the real economy. In 2018， the contribution rate of Chinas digital economy to GDP growth reached 67.9% with a year-on-year increase of 12.9%. The digital economy has become an important engine driving Chinese economic growth and high-quality development.

CAEXPO is a significant international exhibition for China-ASEAN exchanges and cooperation， actively serving the Belt and Road Initiative. Through presenting Chinese Internet technologies and results of cross-border E-commerce， forums and conferences containing China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum， China-ASEAN E-commerce Summit and cross-border E-commerce development seminars， have practically promoted exchanges and cooperation of China-ASEAN digital economy.

In 2015， China-ASEAN Information Harbor， regarded as a regional and international financial information center， was launched at the opening ceremony of the 12th CAEXPO， aiming to deepen the cooperation of digital economy for making economic growth and industrial transformation more dynamic. In addition， the leaders of ASEAN business associations and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding on China-ASEAN Cross-border E-commerce Platform to open a new pattern for the platform， which was launched in 2016， and serving China-ASEAN business enterprises.

In 2018， CAEXPO hosted China-ASEAN Information Harbor Digital Economy Forum for the first time. Qin Rupei， Vice Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， proposed that working with ASEAN is essential to promote the interconnection of information infrastructure， build an ecosystem of digital economy， vigorously cultivate emerging industries， drive technological innovations in cloud computing， big data， the Internet of Things and AI， and accelerate the innovative progress of digital economy.

In 2019， the 16th CAEXPO enabled China and ASEAN to enter a new era of cooperation in digital economy. In the opening ceremony， Chinese leaders were willing to take 2020 marking China-ASEAN Year of Digital Economy Cooperation as the opportunity to expand cooperation with ASEAN in E-commerce， digital trade and 5G networks.

At the exhibition， the latest information applications represented by the Internet， big data and AI， and advanced technologies such as 5G， encrypted communication， language recognition and driver assistance， were displayed for exhibitors and traders. It is obvious that communication technology plays a crucial role in the development of digital economy. China Mobile and China Telecom established 5G networks at the main venue， branch venues， media centers and important transportation hubs， enabling people to experience Chinese 5G speed.

In 2019， government leaders， business elites and experts from China and ASEAN countries attending the first China-ASEAN AI Summit and the sub-forums， collectively discussed the advance of AI technology in 5G， smart government and intelligent manufacturing， helping to strengthen China-ASEAN AI cooperation.

CAEXPO will continuously deepen China-ASEAN cooperation in network infrastructure， technical cooperation， economic and trade services， information sharing and cultural exchanges， fostering new growth points.

The inherent advantages of CAEXPO to power the cooperation in digital economy

On October 22， 2019， China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Upgrade Protocol entered into effect for all members of the agreement. Wang Yuzhu， Executive Dean of China-ASEAN Research Institute of Guangxi University， said that the barriers to the place of origin， customs regulations， services trade and investment regulations， had been lowered， releasing more vitality for free trade area.

This means that the echelon and complementarity undertaken by the industries of both sides see an unceasing increase to accelerate the cooperation in E-commerce， smart cities and 5G. 2020 marks China-ASEAN Year of Digital Economy Cooperation， so digital economy becomes one of key words of the 17th CAEXPO.

As a national-level and international economic and trade exchange event co-sponsored by the competent economic and trade authorities of China and 10 ASEAN countries with the ASEAN Secretariat， CAEXPO has a strong appeal. As of the 16th CAEXPO， a total of 83 Chinese and foreign leaders， more than 3，300 ministerial guests， and 832，000 exhibitors and traders participated in the event. Therefore， a stable platform is provided for 11 countries that carry out cooperation for optimizing the structure of digital industry， boosting industrial digitization and enlarging the employment capacity.

Under the framework of CAEXPO， professional exhibitions including agriculture exhibition， light industry exhibition， culture exhibition， tourism exhibition， forest & wood products exhibition， as well as overseas exhibitions， extend cooperation to other areas such as information services， E-commerce and overseas tourism， which are mostly permeated by digital economy. It is believed that more achievements of China-ASEAN cooperation in digital economy will be registered in the 17th CAEXPO.

CAEXPO possesses a solid political foundation and profound experience of multilateral international cooperation with a new mission that consolidates the bridge for China-ASEAN cooperation in digital economy in accordance with the current global economy. It remains to be seen what a new look the cooperation in digital economy has in the 17th CAEXPO.