来源 | 零壹智库

The development of the digital economy is reshaping the regional pattern of economic growth. Through the "China Digital Economy Development Index Report" (click "Read Original" at the end of the article to view the full report), we found that provinces and autonomous regions such as Hainan, Qinghai, and Tibet, which are "remote" and relatively backward in economic development in the past, have burst out with unique strength, ranking first or even topping the charts in multiple indicators.

In early 2024, ZeroOne Think Tank released the "China Digital Economy Development Index Report (2023)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") (click "Read Original" at the end of the article to view the full report). This is the third consecutive year that ZeroOne Think Tank has released a China Digital Economy Development Index Report, and they are currently developing the 2024 edition.

The index shows the overall trend of China's digital economy development from 2008 to 2022 and presents the structure and driving forces of the digital economy through five major index systems.

According to the "Report," China's digital economy development index has shown explosive growth. From 2008 to 2022, China's digital economy development index rose from 100 to 572.26, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.27%, far higher than the 9.48% economic growth rate and 3.58% financial development growth rate over the same period.

From specific indicators, the special performance of the digital economy in places like Hainan, Qinghai, and Tibet is attributed to the development of new digital economy infrastructure in recent years. These regions have leveraged their respective economic, geographical, and climatic characteristics, seizing opportunities in the country's new infrastructure layout and strengthening the construction of digital economy new infrastructure, providing significant growth momentum to regions with a smaller base.

It can be said that the outstanding performance of the digital economy in these places is the "egg" under the new infrastructure, and these "eggs" are hatching in the new economic structure.

 01 

Hainan Chapter

1. Four firsts, two seconds, and three thirds

Four firsts - The "Report" mentions that Hainan Province took the top spot in four indicators: the growth rate of the digital economy development index, the growth rate of the digital industrialization development index, the compound growth rate of the digital technology application development index, and the compound growth rate of the manufacturing digitalization development index from 2008 to 2022.

Figure 1: Top 10 National Digital Economy Development Index Growth Rates from 2008 to 2022 (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)

Figure 2: Top 10 National Digital Industrialization Development Index Growth Rates from 2008 to 2022 (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)

2. Strengthening Digital Strength

As an island province, Hainan may seem far away from other provinces, but it is adjacent to ASEAN, China's largest trading partner. This relatively independent island terrain has also created Hainan's unique location advantage - facilitating the construction of a free trade port and the internal and external integration of funds. Hainan has a relatively weak industrial base, a low base population, and a lack of resources and high-end talent.

02

Qinghai Chapter

1. Taking the Lead in Digital Infrastructure

The "Report" shows that the top 10 provinces in terms of digital infrastructure development index in 2022 are: Qinghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Henan, Gansu, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, and Hebei.

2. Breaking Geographical Restrictions to Open a New Chapter

Qinghai is located in China's ecological function area, with restrictions on industrial development forms, such as low production efficiency and weak innovation capabilities. However, Qinghai also has superior resource endowments, a cool climate, and minimal impact from geological disasters, making it a clean energy production base.

03

Tibet Chapter

1. Tibet's "Leading the Way"

Tibet "leads the way" in the top 10 of the compound growth rate of the digital product manufacturing industry development index and the compound growth rate of the digital product service industry development index from 2008 to 2022.

2. The "Latecomer Advantage" of Digital Tibet

Currently, all townships in the Tibet Autonomous Region have access to 5G networks, and more than 99% of administrative villages have access to optical fiber, broadband, and 4G. In 2023, the added value of the digital economy in the entire region reached 25.098 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%.

End.

The China Digital Economy Development Index is one of the series of indices launched by ZeroOne Think Tank. The index consists of 56 indicators constructed from five dimensions: digital industrialization, industrial digitization, digital infrastructure, digital technology, and digital talent, providing a comprehensive evaluation of the digital economy development level of 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China from 2008 to 2022 (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). (Click "Read Original" at the end of the article to view the full report).

The China Digital Economy Development Index is currently the provincial panel data with the longest coverage time period and relatively rich index system in China, providing strong reference value for both academia and industry.

So far, there have been over 20 CSSCI and SSCI journal papers based on ZeroOne Think Tank's series of data, including 2 ESI top 1% highly cited papers, 1 Wiley Press highly cited paper, 1 CNKI highly cited paper, and 1 Growth and Change highly cited author.

Currently, ZeroOne Think Tank is organizing a team to develop a city-level digital economy development index.