Gu Shengzu, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), led some members of the committee's reading group on digital economy in Beijing on a survey trip to the leading telecom operator China Unicom on Oct 14.

Gu quoted an old saying -- "travel thousands of miles and read thousands of books" to affirm the survey trip of the reading group as a complement to theoretical study. He said the visit would help the group figure out topics for next year's surveys.

Though there is no unified definition of the digital economy, it is an established fact that China is emerging as a global leader in its development, especially in the field of consumer internet, according to Gu.

He urged efforts to advance industrialization of digital technologies, digitization of industries and digital governance in the digital economy's second development phase.

Gu said China has made significant achievements in unitizing digital technology in epidemic prevention and control and helping governments' governance during the anti-COVID-19 fight.

He highlighted cloud computing technology and its application in many grand online meetings during the epidemic outbreak.

Gu compared the 4G and 5G technologies to "building roads" and "constructing towns" respectively, adding that developing the digital economy is like creating a healthy ecosystem.

China should seize the opportunities brought about by the fourth industrial revolution and try to be a pioneer in the digitalized, smart and internet-powered development, Gu noted.