Interview: China becomes pioneer of digital era, says analyst

ISTANBUL, April 29 (Xinhua) -- China has recently made great strides in the digital economy thanks to a series of breakthroughs, becoming a pioneer of the digital era, a Turkish expert has said.

"Digitalization is an essential field that has given its name to this era," Murat Tufan, an analyst with Turkish broadcaster Ekoturk, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "We see artificial intelligence technologies or augmented reality products developed every passing day," he said. "China is leading the way in this new epoch."

The analyst said the digitalization era has brought about changes in people's lives and introduced new technological requirements, including intelligent buildings, smart cities, and digital countries, and China has responded very well to the transformation and speed brought about by digitalization.

"China's pioneering will accelerate economic development, increase savings, and give people more time and hopefully more prosperity (both in the country and worldwide)," he noted.

The analyst also said that the digital economy has many dimensions besides efficiency and profitability, such as climate change and the effective use of petroleum.

"With digitalization, (we must pose ourselves) the questions of how we can expand the production line while disturbing nature less, and at the same time respond to consumer needs, and how we construct an economy to respond," he said, noting that China so far has been making significant progress on all these points.

China has hosted the 4th United Nations World Data Forum in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. Data experts from more than 100 countries discussed various topics, including data innovation, data value, public transparency, and data ecosystems.

Hosting such an important forum is also another sign of China's leading role in this area, Tufan noted.