An international forum on data infrastructure commenced on Thursday, part of the Global Digital Economy Conference 2023, running from Tuesday to Friday in Beijing.

The forum focused on building safe, efficient and intelligent data infrastructure, providing technological solutions for data distribution worldwide and boosting the innovative growth of the digital economy.

Wu Hequan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who also serves as director of the advisory committee of the Internet Society of China; and Reinhold Achatz, board chairman of the International Data Spaces Association, were invited to give their keynote speeches at the forum.

Other renowned experts in attendance included Latif Ladid, chairman of IPv6 Forum; Geoff Huston, chief scientist at the Asia-Pacific Network Information Center; and Tong Ka-lok, vice-president of Macao University of Science and Technology.

The attendees shared insights into data infrastructure, data safety and cross-border data flows, data sharing and the internationalization of data demonstration zones, contributing constructive and creative advice that will help to promote regional development and industrial growth, and boost Beijing's bid to become a key network node in the global data infrastructure landscape.

Beijing is ramping up its efforts to become a global benchmark city for the digital economy. The regulations on promoting Beijing's digital economy, which came into force on Jan 1, set out the priority areas for the construction of the city's data infrastructure.

Construction and improvement of information infrastructure facilities will receive priority support from the municipal government when they are related to new-generation high-speed fixed broadband and mobile communication networks, satellite internet, quantum communication, urban intelligent computing clusters, artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, privacy computing and urban spatial operating systems, according to the regulations.

Beijing will also optimize and expand the coverage of the internet of things in such areas as industrial manufacturing, agricultural production, public services and emergency response management, support road-vehicle coordinated infrastructure development, and encourage simultaneous construction and operation of commercial or housing projects' main properties and information infrastructure.

This year's Beijing government work report, released in late January, noted that the city would advance the construction of new-type infrastructure and digital economy-related infrastructure and support systems to unleash the potential of data resources across the board, according to the report.

Government data show that Beijing has made substantial progress in new-type infrastructure construction, with the number of 5G base stations per 10,000 people and the scale of computing power both ranking first in the country.

In 2022, Beijing built 23,000 new 5G base stations. This year, another 10,000-plus 5G base stations will be added to the city, according to the city government's annual work report.

Beijing is also ramping up advancements in the construction of new-generation digital cluster networks, edge computing systems, and other new types of infrastructure, as well as strengthening the optimization of its data centers and the coordination of computing power centers. It is also promoting progress in the research and development of 6G technology.

Digital industrialization and industrial digitalization are two approaches to boosting the digital economy. The former gives full play to data as a new type of production resource while the latter focuses on empowering industries, especially transforming traditional sectors, with digital technology, industry insiders said.

Beijing is making headway in both, improving the competitiveness of core industries in its digital economy.

The city has attracted a host of sci-tech companies and internet businesses. There are more than 100 "unicorn" internet businesses in China, and nearly 50 percent of them have settled in Beijing. A unicorn refers to a startup valued at $1 billion or more.

In the fields of emerging industries related to the digital economy, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, innovative applications of information technology, and the industrial internet, Beijing ranks first nationwide in terms of industrial scale.

The city announced two policies in May to support the growth of the AI industry, which have made it clear that Beijing is on the fast track to building itself into a global innovation epicenter for the industry.

Beijing is among the cities that offer the strongest policy support for big model AI and AI 2.0, and its policies place great importance on talent and computing power assistance, Kai-fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Chinese investment firm Sinovation Ventures, told Chinese media during the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum in May.

The city has taken the lead in the AI industry in China, gathering topnotch research institutions and human resources platforms, prompting a flurry of dynamic financing activity and forming a complete industry ecosystem, Zhang Xiaorong, head of the research institute of Shenzhen-based manufacturing company Deep Innovation, told Beijing Business Today.

More than 40,000 people are involved in core technology R&D in the industry in Beijing, accounting for 60 percent of the country's total, according to a white paper on the city's AI industry, released by the Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.

Of the top 100 organization patentees worldwide in the AI industry, 30 are headquartered in Beijing, the report found.

The Beijing-based newspaper reported that the city is home to nearly 1,050 core AI companies, accounting for 29 percent of total core AI businesses across China, the most in the country.

According to the city's new industry support policies, Beijing's core AI industries are projected to reach 300 billion yuan ($41.4 billion) in annual output value in 2025, maintaining double-digital growth.

A maintenance robot checks a subway car in Beijing in March. HUANG LIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Beijing-based internet company JD displays its technologies and services at an exhibition during the ongoing Global Digital Economy Conference. DU JIANPO/FOR CHINA DAILY