Digital technology drives inclusive growth in China: WEF report

Digital technology can be an important driver for inclusive growth as evidenced by China's experience, said a research report published here on Thursday by a research body of China's Alibaba Group.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma speaks during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. [Photo: AP/Markus Schreiber]

The report named "Digital Technology and Inclusive Growth" was released by Luohan Academy on the sidelines of the 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

By studying the adoption of digital technology in China, the document identifies where technologies have made a material difference for inclusive growth in China, and offers some insights on how to make China's experience global.

"Experience in China and other emerging markets shows the tremendous potential of a new growth path, one that makes development more inclusive and sustainable," said Chen Long, director of Luohan Academy.

"With public-private joint efforts and the right policies, the digital age presents new opportunities for emerging markets that did not exist before," he added.

Michael Spence, 2001 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics and one of the report composers, said: "The data shows that the mobile internet, e-commerce, mobile payments and internet-based financial services together have accelerated overall growth and produce startling inclusive growth patterns in multiple dimensions."

Launched in June 2018 in Hangzhou, Luohan Academy is focused on addressing universal challenges that arise from the rapid development of digital technologies with 16 Nobel Prize laureates and scholars as committee members.