Tencent, Alibaba among internet giants driving development
Livestreamers promote products at an industrial park in Rongcheng, Shandong province, in November. (LI XINJUN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Referring to a batch of notable investment cases involving leading internet firms like Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group, the nation's top data administration highlighted on Thursday the important role played by platform companies in leveraging investment to drive development, jobs and innovation.
The cases were unveiled by the National Data Administration as a move to further drive China's platform economy.
The administration, which was officially inaugurated in October for the coordination of data infrastructure and resources, is now under the National Development and Reform Commission — China's top economic regulator.
The administration said in an online statement that platform enterprises, such as Tencent, JD and Alibaba, are investing more in key areas that can help lead development, create jobs and enhance the country's global competitiveness.
Such investments accelerated the construction of a modernized industrial system and the research and development of key technologies, and helped boost the quality and efficiency of the real economy. They have also contributed to the country's technological self-reliance and high-quality development, it said.
Among the companies involved in the cases, Tencent was highlighted for its investment in industrial internet firm Rootcloud, especially for its support of the latter in offering industrial internet services nationwide.
Tencent is also investing in enterprise-level data provider Transwarp to help drive digitalization among enterprises.
Alibaba's investment in ASR Microelectronics Co Ltd, a wireless chipmaker, was also mentioned in the sample case, as the move is seen strengthening the global competitiveness of China's cellular communications capabilities.
The administration said it will continue to announce such cases of platform enterprise investments to encourage players in the sector to play more active roles amid the development of the digital economy.
Ma Chaojiang, head of informatization industry development at the State Information Center, said: "The move further demonstrates the country's unswerving determination to promote the sustainable, healthy and rapid development of the platform economy. Special and targeted rectification work of the platform economy has been completed in recent years, and has now entered a new stage of healthy development of normalized supervision."
In July, the NDRC unveiled the first batch of seven typical investment cases of platform companies, including Tencent and Meituan.
"With these cases, we can see that the overall planning and construction of the digital economy has been successfully transitioned from the new administration, and the country's guiding direction of platform companies has been consistent — in order to make them healthier and stronger."
Ma said that compared to the previous batch of cases, the new cases also put focus on employment, as per JD's investments.
JD is investing in on-demand delivery firm Dada Group. The courier has offered flexible jobs for more than 1.2 million deliverymen and 50,000 product pickers. JD's other investment into food distribution firm Dili Group has developed over 100,000 clients to purchase agricultural products, which has then offered nearly a million job opportunities for related industry chain suppliers.
Authorities have stepped up their efforts to boost the healthy development of platform economies and the country's private sector in recent years. From 2020 to 2022, the Top 10 Chinese platform companies, based on market capitalization, invested over 500 billion yuan ($69.7 billion) in R&D, with an average annual growth rate of 15 percent. They also obtained more than 50,000 patents, establishing themselves as a key force in digital technology innovation.
Wang Peng, a senior researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The latest efforts showed that the country's bottom line for the development of the platform economy has been clear. Also, it is an inevitable trend that the country's digital economy will integrate with the real economy, and platform companies are expected to play a bigger role."
