Global Digital Governance: Progress,Dilemmas and China’s Role

Qi Kai is Associate Professor at the Institute of Globalization and Global Issues, China University of Political Science and Law; Zhou Zhihan is Lecturer at the School of International Education, China University of Political Science and Law.

The booming digital economy moved by the Internet, big data,cloud computing and other digital technologies is accelerating innovation.Digitalization is increasingly integrated into all fields,and the trend of digital globalization is apparent.However, opportunities and challenges are two sides of the same coin and always go together.For example, in the recent Covid-19 outbreak, offline physical activities were hit hard, and the intensifying disorderly expansion of digital activities brought new challenges concerning digital sovereignty, digital welfare, digital barriers, digital security and even digital war, involving governments, digital enterprises, multinational organizations, and individual citizens.

In this context, the international community must strengthen global digital governance.Global digital governance needs an urgent upgrade.China is an important participant in global governance and a major player in global digital development.China values and actively participates in global digital governance.It has made great contributions and is ready to help resolve global digital governance problems.

Key Elements of Global Digital Governance

Digital technology is driving development in the political, economic and cultural life of human society today.Any discussions on digital issues are naturally transnational, complex and global, so global digital governance is naturally an extension and embodiment of global governance in the digital field.Global digital governance has five dimensions: foundation, rules,approaches, subjects and objects.

First, the rapid development of global digital technology and digital economy provides the material foundation and prerequisite for global digital governance.In the past three decades, the continuing technological progress of semiconductors, computers, Internet, fibre-optic communication and mobile communication pushed the development of information technology and profoundly affected the production and lifestyle of humanity.The information technology age is growing faster today as new digital technologies foster new digital industries, digital economy and digital life.The digitalization of industries worldwide will account for 84.4 per cent of the digital economy in 2020.The size of the digital economy in 47 countries reached US$38.1 trillion in value added in 2021, a nominal growth of 15.6 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 45 per cent of GDP.By the end of 2021, the global Internet population reached 4.9 billion, roughly 63 per cent of the global population.By 2023, the digital economy will account for 62 per cent of global GDP; by 2035, the data volume covered by the digital economy will reach 47 ZB.1A zettabyte (ZB) is a unit of digital information storage.1ZB=1012GB.See“Global Digital Economy White Paper (2022) Released, Digital Economy Adds New Momentum to World Economy,”China Industry and Information Network, July 30, 2022, https://www.cnii.com.cn/rmydb/202207/t20220730_400751.html.Mankind The world is moving into more digitalization.The rapid development of digitalization worldwide provides the foundation for work in global digital governance.

Second, global digital governance needs concrete guiding principles.According to James Rosenau, governance is a system of rules that can only be effective when accepted by the majority, or at least by the most powerful people it affects.2James N.Rosenau and Ernst Otto Czempiel, eds., Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.4.Global digital governance is part of global governance and subject to the fundamental principles of global governance, that is,the equality of sovereign countries, large and small, to participate in the governance framework voluntarily and cooperatively.The governance framework should strive for shared Growth through discussion and collaboration.

At the same time, global digital governance is in urgent need of specific guiding principles.For example, the sovereign equality and security in digital space should be substantially respected and guaranteed; the technologyneutral status of transnational digital infrastructure must be respected; major differences in data standards must be bridged; and the consensus over the basic rules for cross-border data flow must be shaped, etc.

Third, advancing global digital governance needs both the established paths and innovative approaches.On the one hand, countries need open and comprehensive dialogues about the digital opportunities and challenges for the greatest denominator of each party’s concerns to form binding international conventions and implementation procedures to build a system of international cooperation featuring shared Growth through discussion and collaboration.On the other hand, countries should keep up with the times and fully exploit the potential of digital technology to achieve the modernization and intelligence of global digital governance.For instance, a global information exchange system based on blockchain and big data can improve the credibility and efficiency of relevant data entry, reduce duplication of work, and enable the international community to efficiently, accurately and jointly combat illegal acts, including digital fraud and money laundering; a global multilingual channel based on virtual space and artificial intelligence can cut long-distance travel for staff of international organizations.In addition, a good digital governance framework can improve communication efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint for green development; a trustworthy, eavesdrop-proof and spy-proof inter-governmental digital governance platform based on quantum computing and communication technology can minimize the critical risks of confidentiality and national security in international cooperation.These innovations can also be applied to subfields of global governance to upgrade governance comprehensively.

Fourth, governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs,industry giants, and research institutions are vital players of global digital governance, with governments playing a central role.Although the early ideas of global governance emphasized denationalization, as practice evolved,the international community recognized that it was unrealistic to advance global governance without the participation of countries and governments.3Gao Qiqi,“Theory and Indexation of State Participation in Global Governance,”Journal of Social Sciences,No.1, 2015, pp.5-7.It is clear that governments today hold the key to digital governance and are responsible for setting digital trade rules, regulations, foreign policies, etc.Meanwhile,multinational digital giants cannot be ignored.They have technical power and directly control digital resources such as data, algorithms and servers.Therefore,they must participate in the discussion about global digital governance.In recent years, scandals of digital giants such as Facebook and Google have shown that their control over economic and social activities can overwhelm government regulatory power and bring transnational challenges to political and social security.As a result, there are clamours to subject multinational digital giants to more oversight in the new global digital governance.4Fernando Filgueiras and Virgilio Almeida, Governance for the Digital World: Neither More State nor More Market,Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, p.2.

Fifth, problems and challenges in global digital development are exactly the object of global digital governance.The international community is particularly concerned about the following key areas: firstly,global digital development is unbalanced, with a huge digital divide between the developed countries in the West and many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America; secondly, data insecurity is serious, with major security risks such as misuse of personal information, industrial-level cyber-attacks, and data theft and attacks by some hegemonic countries;5As the world’s major digital economies, China and the United States face the most serious data security challenges, such as the frequent industrial-level data attacks in both countries.The US is the primary victim of data hacking, but also the primary actor in data violations against China.For example, the widely publicized cyber extortion cases of Colonial Pipeline, JBS, and Kaseya since 2021all took place in the US.See the new website of US Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, https://www.cisa.gov/stopransomware.Meanwhile,the US and NATO have repeatedly launched cyberattacks against China, which the Chinese government has strongly condemned.thirdly, cross-border regulation and taxation of digital enterprises are increasingly difficult, as global digital giants control a large amount of data resources and computing power,6Liu Han,“The Genesis of Platform’s Power: A Mechanism of Re-centering in Network Society,”Beijing Cultural Review, No.1, 2021, pp.31-39.and their wide distribution of business and diversified business modes lead to tax base erosion and profit shifting;7Bai Yanfeng and Zhan Yuxia,“EU Tax Reform and New Ways of International Tax Development: An Analysis for Internet Giants’Cross-Border Tax Avoidance,”Public Finance Research Journal,No.2, 2018, p.5.fourthly, there are illegal crimes and moral concerns regarding digital virtual space, and the chronic problems of extreme cyber violence, terrorism, money laundering, and racism are posing great threats to public security, which are hard to tackle because the virtual space is cross-border with multiple subjects and complicated issues.8Michael Chertoff,“A Public Policy Perspective of the Dark Web,”Journal of Cyber Policy,Vol.2, No.1, 2017, pp.6-38.

In general, even though global digital governance is still evolving, its direction and objectives are clear.Global digital governance is a collection of actions led by governments and intergovernmental organizations, with the participation of NGOs, industry giants and research institutions.They must work together to solve various challenges, including the development gap, conflict of interests, and public security problems.It is a dynamic structure in which sovereign equality and shared growth through discussion and collaboration are the principles of governance, with setting rules and regulations as the goal to solve various digital challenges and promote the digital well-being of humanity.

Progress of Global Digital Governance and China’s Contribution

Global digital governance is closely related to the process of digitalization,which can be traced back to the 1990s.The world’s major powers and intergovernmental organizations have attached great importance to global digital governance in recent years.China has also tried hard to contribute to the international effort as one of the most important digital innovators and powers.

Achievements

The Internet expanded rapidly around the globe when the United States proposed the Information Superhighway Initiative around the 1990s.At that time, some groups and organizations, including the United Nations, began seeking technical coordination and pushing for related governance.But, on the whole, these early efforts were inadequate.They upheld“technology first”with minimal attention to political,economic, social, and moral challenges.Moreover, earlier activities were confined to conferences and talks, which are difficult to tackle specific challenges and have little tangible results in setting rules and regulations.With the rapid progress of digital technology in the past decade, 5G mobile communication, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and big data technology have achieved large-scale industrialization and civilian application, reshaping the production and life of human society.Moreover, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital globalization has made remarkable progress, but digital risks have also become obvious and attracted global attention.In this context, global digital governance has become more important and urgent.Some notable progress is:

First, major powers and intergovernmental organizations are active in the layout of global digital governance.Only scientist and technologist groups were concerned about global digital coordination in the early days.But in recent years, major powers and international organizations such as the United States, China, the European Union, ASEAN, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the G20, the G7, and the BRICS countries have all taken the position that participation in global digital governance setup is critical to their interest, they all want to take a pivotal role.

In March 2021, the EU released the 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade.It establishes ten-year goals in talent development, digital infrastructure development, and digitization of businesses and public services and declares that this will make Europe a global digital leader.The Compass also emphasizes international digital partnerships and coordination.9European Commission,“2030 Digital Compass: The European Way for the Digital Decade,”March 9, 2021, https://eufordigital.eu/library/2030-digital-compass-the-european-way-for-thedigital-decade/.Since the Biden administration took office, the US has promoted the so-called“values-based policy”to engaged Western allies and sell its digital standards.The US and the EU have jointly established the Trade and Technology Council,10European Commission,“EU-US Trade and Technology Council: Commission Launches Consultation Platform for Stakeholder’s Involvement to Shape Transatlantic Cooperation,”October 18, 2021, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/ip_21_5308/IP_21_5308_EN.pdf.The US-initiated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework has also defined its standards and tries to make its digital rules dominant in the Indo-Pacific region.11Andreyka Natalegawa and Gregory B.Poling,“The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework& Digital Trade in Southeast Asia,”May 2022, https://www.csis.org/analysis/indo-pacificeconomic-framework-and-digital-trade-southeast-asia.

In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), G20 and G7 are all vital players in digital governance.Issues related to digital regulation, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence are their perennial themes.12Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Megan Hogan,“Digital Agreements: What’s Covered, What’s Possible,”October 2021, https://www.piie.com/publications/policy-briefs/digital-agreementswhats-covered-whats-possible.The G20 Digital Economy Ministers’Meeting has become a highlight of the annual G20 summits.

Second, digital economy is widely accepted.As the main vehicle of digital development, digital economy can drive the growth of other economic sectors and even the whole society, which is why the world pays great attention to digital development.In 2014, the internet economy was first introduced into the APEC cooperation framework in the APEC Initiative of Cooperation to Promote the Internet the Internet Economy.In 2016,the G20 Summit included the digital economy in the G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth for the first time.13Chinese State Council Information Office,“Together Building a Community of a Shared Future in Cyberspace,”Xinhuanet, November 7, 2022, http://www.news.cn/politics/2022-11/07/c_1129107067.htm.These moves have attracted global attention.Since then, major countries and international organizations have launched documents, declarations, frameworks, and plans related to the digital economy.Until now, the digital economy has become a key issue in UN occasions or institutions such as the UN General Assembly,the Conference on Trade and Development, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union, etc.The international community has recognized the importance of digital economy.In addition, further conceptualization, classification and measurement of the digital economy are in active progress.14See Rumana Bukht and Richard Heeks,“Defining, Conceptualising and Measuring the Digital Economy,”Development Informatics Working Paper 68, 2017, pp.1-24; Yuliia Chaliuk,“The Digital Economy in a Global Environment,”AD ALTA-Journal of Interdisciplinary Research,No.1, 2021, pp.143-148.The US and OECD are pioneers in measuring the digital economy, and their methodologies are mature.At the same time, many countries, including China, are actively improving their statistical methods and using important occasions such as the annual meetings of international statistical associations to exchange ideas with each other.15See Liu Xiaoxue,“Defining and Accounting for the Global Digital Economy,”China Statistics,No.4, 2021, pp.74-75; Liu Wei, Xu Xianchun, and Xiong Zequan,“International Progress and Chinese Exploration of Digital Economy Classification,”Finance & Trade Economics,No.7, 2021, pp.32-48.The international community will likely harmonize the classification and measurement of the digital economy soon.

Third, the global taxation of the digital economy has a breakthrough.With the development of digital technology, the boom of industry and the rise of platforms, multinational digital giants have taken advantage of their online production and business activities to shift profit to lower tax jurisdiction.A few digital giants have appropriated most of digital development’s economic benefits and hurt public interests.The international community needs a more reasonable and fair digital tax collection to promote global digital governance.In 2017, the G20 commissioned the OECD to conduct a study on consensual solutions to address the tax challenges of the digital economy through the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Inclusive Framework.In 2019, the OECD presented its Two-Pillar Plan.By 2021,the international community reached a milestone with 136 jurisdictions out of 140 framework members issued a joint statement on the Two-Pillar Plan to address the tax challenges of economic digitalization.16Website of Chinese State Taxation Administration,“136 Jurisdictions under G20/OECD Inclusive Framework Reach Consensus on Two-Pillar Plan to Address Tax Challenges of Economic Digitization,”October 9, 2021, http://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810219/n810724/c5169582/content.html.The world has ushered in the most important reform of international taxation in the digital age, and started a new chapter in digital taxation.

Fourth, all kinds of regional frameworks of digital cooperation are formed.The EU, ASEAN, APEC and other intergovernmental organizations are actively laying out digital governance.Considering the geopolitical-economic factors, their efforts are mainly directed towards all kinds of regional frameworks of digital cooperation.In October 2021, the Peterson Institute for International Economics released a report that tallied several digital agreements, including Chapter 14 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Chapter 19 of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, Chapter 14 of the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Chapter 12 of the RCEP Agreement, and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement between Singapore, New Zealand and Chile.The report also looks forward to the Indo-Pacific agreement under negotiation, which is led by Australia and includes other six countries like Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Canada,New Zealand and Chile; the group intends to invite the United States later on.17Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Megan Hogan,“Digital Agreements: What’s Covered, What’s Possible.”Overall, these agreements are highly regional.The Asia-Pacific region has the most regional framework, reflecting its high level of digital development.

China’s important contributions

China plays an active part in global governance.It pursues a vision of global governance featuring shared growth through discussion and collaboration.In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chinese President Xi Jinping specifically pointed out that over the past decade, China has demonstrated its sense of duty as a responsible major country, actively participating in the reform and development of the global governance system.All this has seen China win widespread international recognition.18Xi Jinping,“Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects,”People’s Publishing House,2022, p.13.As one of the world’s largest and fast-growing digital powers, China has contributed significantly to developing global digital governance by actively leading and taking on responsibilities.

First, China has actively constructed the global digital infrastructure to bridge the digital divide and promote digital equality.Digital infrastructure is a prerequisite for countries and regions to develop digital industries and enhance the public’s well-being.For a long time, many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America lacked network and communication facilities and could not afford the Western countries’expensive equipment and service.They then became information silos.In recent years, Chinese enterprises helped the leapfrog development of these countries with highquality and low-cost products.Their excellent operation and maintenance service helped these countries establish a world-class digital industrialscale telecommunication network.As a result, these countries moved directly from the wired network and 2G communication era to the digital era of smart mobile devices and 4/5G mobile networks, greatly increasing their digital convenience and opening their doors to the global economy.19The Council on Foreign Relations,“Assessing China’s Digital Silk Road Initiative,”December 2020, https://www.cfr.org/china-digital-silk-road/.Digital industrialization and industrial digitization are key areas of the digital economy.They are also critical for countries, especially less developed countries, to improve the scale of industry, labor productivity, and overall economic performance.Chinese digital enterprises have been working on a variety of businesses such as investment, operation, transformation and upgrading.For example, they set up a smart logistics warehouse port in Southeast Asia, built Africa’s first 5G smart mine in South Africa, and helped farmers in Afghanistan introduce their products to global e-commerce platforms.20The analysis is based on authoritative information platforms such as People’s Daily Online,Xinhua News Agency and Huanqiu Network.

Second, China has responsibly promoted global digital governance through the Digital Economy Initiative and digital taxation reform.China worked early to implement the concept and norms of the digital economy.Before the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016, China worked closely with G20 members in the spirit of openness, transparency and inclusiveness.It organized more than 30 multi-bilateral video conferences and face-to-face meetings within six months and solicited rounds of comments through more than a thousand emails,resulting in the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative, the world’s first document of digital economy co-signed and welcomed by leaders of multiple countries.21Cyberspace Administration of China,“G20 Hangzhou Summit Adopts the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative to Put New Impetus to the World Economy,”September 29, 2016, http://www.cac.gov.cn/2016-09/29/c_1119648535.htm.

The Two-Pillar Taxation Plan cannot be successful without China’s involvement and firm support.Since 2017, the OECD has been accelerating its study on digital taxation.China has also been deeply involved to pursue a solution that meets the interests and demands of economies at different stages of development.At the same time, China,as the world’s largest trading country and second largest economy, has agreed that the best approach to address tax problems is to reach broad consensus through multilateral negotiations.China has also been a model in negotiation process.22Sun Hongmei,“The Two-Pillar Plan Will Open a New Chapter of Global Tax Governance,”Economic Information Daily,October 12, 2021, p.8.

Moreover, China’s application to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement has a significant impact in global digital governance.The agreement, co-signed by Singapore, Chile and New Zealand in June 2020 and entered into force in January 2021, proposes a relatively comprehensive arrangement for global digital economy activities and exchanges while keeping flexibility for members.23Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore,“Digital Economy Partnership Agreement,”June 12, 2020, https://www.mti.gov.sg/Trade/Digital-Economy-Agreements/The-Digital-Economy-Partnership-Agreement.However, it lacks greater impact because the initiating countries are small and medium-sized and none of the major Western countries have shown any interest.In October 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China’s application for accession to the agreement, which has aroused the world’s attention and boosted the profile of the agreement.24Chinese Government Website,“President Xi Jinping’s Speech at the First Phase of the 16th G20 Summit,”October 30, 2021, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-10/30/content_5647892.htm.

Third, China has actively participated in and created regional frameworks of digital cooperation.Over the years, China has conducted digital cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe,Central Asia, and BRICS region.As the host country, China also led the APEC Initiative of Cooperation to Promote Internet Economy at the 2014 Summit.25Feng Xuejun et al.,“Grasping Opportunities in Science and Technology Innovation and Promoting Cooperation in Digital Economy,”People’s Daily, August 2, 2021, p.6.In 2017, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched the Initiation on Belt and Road digital economy cooperation.In July 2020, the ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum decided on closer cooperation and mutual understanding in Internet and digital economy development.In March 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat General of the League of Arab States (LAS) held a conference on data security and announced the joint publication of the China-LAS Cooperation Initiative on Data Security.Arab countries are the first region to publish a data security initiative with China jointly.26He Yin,“Opening a New Chapter of Global Digital Governance,”People’s Daily,March 30,2021, p.3.In November 2020, the 23rd China-ASEAN Summit issued the Initiative on Building ASEAN-China Partnership on Digital Economy.27Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website,“China-ASEAN Cooperation Facts and Figures:1991-2021,”December 31, 2021, https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/wjbxw_673019/202201/t20220105_10479078.shtml.In June 2021, China launched the China-Central and Eastern European countries e-commerce cooperation dialogue mechanism.28Yu Yichun et al.,“Contributing Chinese Wisdom to Global Digital Governance,”People’s Daily,January 9, 2022, p.3.In June 2022, the third meeting of the“China+5 Central Asian Countries”Foreign Ministers adopted the Data Security Cooperation Initiative, and the 14th meeting of BRICS leaders adopted the BRICS Digital Economy Partnership Framework.

Dilemmas of Global Digital Governance and China’s Wisdom

With the rising peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit and governance deficit in recent years, the world is facing unprecedented challenges that negatively impact global digital governance.China commits to the path of peaceful development.It will keep its course to expanding global partnerships and continue to build a new type of international relations and a human community with a shared future,thereby breaking through the deadlock in global digital governance with China’s wisdom.

Dilemmas of global digital governance

Achievements in global digital governance mentioned before are associated with the joint efforts by the responsible members of the international community such as China, New Zealand, Chile, ASEAN,LAS, Central and Eastern European countries and the five Central Asian countries.However, global digital governance still faces real difficulties.With the unprecedented changes in a century, today’s world is entering a new period of instability: peace is fragile; development across countries is getting uneven; the trust deficit is increasing; the international security environment is unstable; and hegemonism, unilateralism, protectionism and xenophobia are rising.These have brought chaos to global political,economic and social order.The COVID-19 pandemic further magnifies the uncertainties Global digital governance faces serious challenges in this context, from agreeing on working principles to specific consultation processes.

First, it lacks material foundations, and the digital divide is huge.Digital development today is characterized by great imbalance and polarization.At the domestic level, there is a digital divide between urban and rural areas, ethnic groups, and education levels.The digital divide is more serious at the global level, even reaching the stratification stage.In particular, the vast number of less developed countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are desperately short of the material foundations for digital development.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report in April 2022 revealed that e-commerce activities had increased globally since the pandemic outbreak.However, the severe lack of digital infrastructure remains a major challenge for developing countries.Of the 2.9 billion people who have no access to the Internet, 96 percent live in developing counties.29United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,“Recovering from COVID-19 in an Increasingly Digital Economy: Implications for Sustainable Development,”April 27-29, 2022,p.6, https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tdb_ede5d2_en.pdf.United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and the International Telecommunication Union also noted in April 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic drives online learning, but about 56 million students worldwide live without mobile network service,almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa.In this region, 89 percent of students do not have computers at home and 82 percent do not have access to the Internet.30UNESCO,“Startling Digital Divides in Distance Learning Emerge,”April 21, 2020, https://en.unesco.org/news/startling-digital-divides-distance-learning-emerge.Although telecom equipment manufacturers represented by China’s Huawei and ZTE have made impressive contributions to building digital infrastructure in developing countries over the years, the global digital divide is underpinned by a deep-rooted development gap that is unlikely to be bridged soon.31Najeh Aissaoui,“The Digital Divide: A Literature Review and Some Directions for Future Research in Light of COVID-19,”Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication,February 2021.

Second, it has confronting principles, and some countries uphold hegemonism.there is no widely recognized consensus in global digital governance.Seeking consensus is one of the ultimate goals.But with the deep-rooted Cold War thinking and political bias, some Western countries,especially the United States, have linked global governance with great power competition, and exerted pressure on non-Western countries, including China, to adopt its version of digital governance.These moves will politicize and stratify the principle of global digital governance, entrenching digital hegemony and bullying acts.32Qi Kai,“US’Long-Arm Jurisdiction and Global Economic Governance,”Northeast Asia Forum, No.4, 2022, pp.68-72.Their approaches include: refusing the reform of the established system in the digital space; forcing the ideological dichotomy of“democracy vs dictatorship, freedom vs tyranny, human rights vs infringement.”The arguments will widen the gap in digital development between the Western world and emerging economies, squeezing digital industries in emerging economies, etc.33See US Department of State,“The Clean Network,”https://2017-2021.state.gov/the-cleannetwork/index.html.

Third, there are controversial approaches of governance, and the risk of governance fragmentation is on the rise.Due to the huge digital divide among countries and the different focus of governance principles, there are serious confrontations on governance discussions.For example, the US wants the free flow of digital information as much as possible to take full advantage of its established strengths in media.34Cai Cuihong and Wang Yuanzhi,“Global Data Governance: Challenges and Responses,”China International Studies,No.6, 2020, p.45.The EU focuses on personal information protection and data security, with special emphasis on establishing the legislative supremacy of the state over international digital giants.It hopes to become a digital authority and a model for global digital governance.35Xue Yan and Zhao Ke,“Digital Governance in the EU: Concepts, Practices and Implications,”Peace and Development Studies,No.1, 2022, pp.95-99.On the other hand, Russia attaches great importance to the“sovereign Internet”and upholds sovereignty in the digital space in a thorough way.36Feng Shuai,“The Principle of Sovereignty and Competing Ideas: Order and Evolution in Digital Space,”Russia Central Asian & East European Studies,No.4, 2022, p.114.In addition, European and American digital giants have been promoting the so-called“stateless governance”transnational coordination institution, claiming to protect the“freedom of expression”and reduce the negative impact of international relations and internal affairs on their businesses.37John S.Davis II et al., Stateless Attribution: Toward International Accountability in Cyberspace,Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017, p.26.

In this context, global digital governance is at a standstill.The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) within the framework of the United Nations are still held regularly, but both can only repeat empty and idealistic propaganda without general principles and specific breakthroughs.Moreover, governance mechanisms are heavily fragmented.For example, the US values American standards and digital hegemony, so it has inserted provisions related to digital trade or digital cooperation into global or regional governance platforms such as the OECD, NATO, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the US-UK Trade Agreement, and the Summit of the Americas, etc.But these provisions are political in nature, and have been challenged and opposed by allies.38Wang Xiaowen and Ma Mengjuan,“US Competitive Strategy for China: Drivers, Paths, and Scope of Influence,”International Forum, No.1, 2022, pp.94-96.

Fourth, parties aspiring for leadership in governance agenda setting hold different objectives.At the national level, the US and the EU both show a strong desire to dominate, and there are clear signs of hedging.The US intends to extend its position as the world’s leading power to promote US standards and become the leader in digital governance.On the other hand,the EU believes that it has no monopolistic digital giants and thus can be the neutral authority to lead global digital governance.But the EU also sees itself as occupying the moral high ground in civil rights protection, and therefore wants to become the sole leader of global digital governance.The divergence between the US and the EU, coupled with the overlapping interests and contradictions in the OECD, the G7, and NATO, heighten and complicate their competition for digital dominance.

In addition, global digital governance is very different from other areas of governance such as nuclear non-proliferation, public health,and poverty reduction.For many years, global governance, especially socioeconomic-related cooperation, has often required only the participation of governments, international organizations, and technical teams.In contrast,global digital governance involves more actors, such as governments, digital enterprises, individual consumers, and non-governmental interest groups,each with a unique role to play and interests.Global digital development has a more complex structure of power interdependence compared to other areas where governments naturally dominate.The power of multinational digital giants is expanding, which governments are often unable to tolerate.Therefore, governments prefer to tighten digital regulation.39Zhou Hui,“Technology, Platform and Information: The Rise of Private Power in Cyberspace,”Journal of Cyber and Information Law, No.2, 2017, pp.96-99.But they also rely on multinational digital giants to promote their economic power.40Qi Kai and Zhu Sisi,“Technology Competition among Great Powers from the Perspective of National Security: An Example of US Policy towards Huawei,”Foreign Affairs Review, No.6,2021, pp.104-105.Although nominally disadvantaged, the vast number of consumers in the digital industry has also become an important bargaining chip in digital governance because of the extreme homogeneity of the digital industry and the low cost of digital service.41Chen Bing,“Reconstructing Consumer Protection Rationale in Artificial Intelligence Scenarios,”Journal of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,No.4, 2019, pp.142-145.

Fifth, it has many pending governance challenges and blind spots in governance.The different parties in governance have varied situations and interests, causing myriad governance challenges.The governments are primarily concerned with fundamental issues, including building the power structure, setting principles of cooperation and competition, and reducing digital security threats.For example, Western countries focus more on possible major threats in the digital space, including terrorism, money laundering, and ransomware, as well as problems of digital giants within the country such as tax avoidance and tax evasion based on cross-border operations and registered offshore enterprises.While digital enterprises,especially global digital giants, they are often more concerned with breaking the territorialism principle of jurisdiction.They believe that the inability of free flow of data greatly affects the development of the global digital industry, particularly affecting digital benefits in less developed country.For consumers, the misuse of personal privacy and data are the major concerns.Also, the rapid development of digital technology with many new inventions and applications has brought out new challenges and risks that are beyond the scope of management by traditional laws and regulations.Blind spots of governance are increasing.In the hotly debated concept of meta-universe, there have been new issues related to labor disputes in virtual workplaces, the virtual identity of employees and protection of their legal interests.42Qi Kai,“Direction and Challenges in the Expansion of Jurisdiction of Western Countries over Digital Space,”September 24-25, 2022.

China’s wisdom

China firmly and consistently supports global governance.The Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has made top-level design and strategic planning for China’s participation in leading the reform of the global governance system.China remains firm in safeguarding the UNcentered international system and has made important theoretical innovation on its practical experience, demonstrating its role as a responsible great power.China has also helped to solve the dilemma of global digital governance and promote digital security and development of the international community with Chinese insight, Chinese input, and Chinese strength.

First, building the fundamental principles of global digital governance based on the pursuit of a human community with a shared future, Global DevelopmentInitiative and Global Security Initiative.At the 2015 summit meetings commemorating the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, President Xi Jinping comprehensively explained the idea of building a human community with a shared future and its focus on the fundamental common interests of mankind.43Liu Jianfei,“The Characteristics and Core Meanings of the Community of a Shared Future for Mankind,”China International Studies,No.1, 2020, p.31.

At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, President Xi proposed the Global Development Initiative and returned development issues to the top international agenda, sending a strong message of our times, a message of common development and prosperity.44“Xi Jinping Attends the General Debate of the Seventy-sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly and Delivers an Important Speech,”People’s Daily,September 22, 2021, p.1.At the opening ceremony of the 2022 Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi put forward the Global Security Initiative to promote world security, offering the answer to questions of the times such as what security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security.45Wu Xiaodan and Zhang Weipeng,“Global Security Initiative: Connotation, Significance and Practice,”China International Studies,No.4, 2022, p.53.

These ideas can be adopted for the healthy development of global digital governance.It is important to look at the challenges facing global digitalization from the perspective of development and security.The development of digital technology and economy is banking on a vibrant national economic development environment, regional development and global development, as well as the distribution of economic benefits,social welfare and environmental protection.As for the security of global digital governance, there are digital sovereignty security, intelligence information security and military cyber security, which are of high political value, as well as digital technology security, digital industry security and public opinion security.The ultimate goal of global digital governance is to promote the digital well-being of all humankind and to drive the sustainable development of human society based on digital technology and economic advancement.The minimum goal is to ensure the common,comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in the digital domain.Suppose any country, especially a major power, clings to the idea of hegemonism in global digital governance; the attempt will dissuade others from participation and going to stall or even destroy existing achievement.46History has proved that the zero-sum game is extremely detrimental to global peace,stability and development.The common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security is conducive to cracking security problems and security dilemmas.See Wang Le and Liu Jun,“The Core Meaning, Theoretical Innovation and Significance of the Global Security Initiative,”China International Studies, No.3, 2022.

Second, always promoting extensive consultation and joint contribution to delivering shared benefits and upholding the spirit of equality and openness.Although China’s digital development and its multilateral cooperation in global digital governance have been suppressed by the United States and other Western countries, it has continuously set up dialogue platforms based on the principle of mutual respect and mutual trust and invited governance subjects at different levels to engage in in-depth and inclusive talks.In 2014, China held its first World Internet Conference in Wuzhen,Zhejiang Province; in 2018, it led the founding of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai; in 2020, it held the first China International Digital Economy Expo in Shenzhen; and in 2022, it held the Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing.People from all walks of life, including politicians, businessmen, academics and researchers, actively participated in the above activities and discussed in-depth topics such as the digital economy, digital government, digital ethics, digital media, digital rules and data flow.47The sources are the official websites of the World Internet Conference and the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.In particular, the World Internet Conference (WIC)is permanently located in Wuzhen and has become an important platform for digital governance.In addition, the four principles of the global Internet system reform and the five-point proposal for human community with a shared future advocated by the WIC in cyberspace provide important insights into the issue.

Third, positioning innovation and development as a prerequisite for advancing global digital governance.Development is of paramount importance.The digital development of human society is the material basis and prerequisite for global digital governance.There would be no fairness,justice and transparency in global digital governance without the narrowing of the global digital divide.Therefore, building digital infrastructure in developing countries is important.The experience of societal development proves that innovation is an important tool for solving global problems and a basic driving force for the progress of human society.Ultimately,people have to rely on advances in technology to break down many difficult physical, cognitive and institutional barriers.China deeply agrees this idea and has therefore been strongly supporting innovation of digital technologies and industries to create more social wealth, accumulate more digital raw materials, and provide material and technological guarantees for solving digital challenges.The Chinese government pays much attention to the development of the digital economy and has elevated it to a national strategy.In recent years, the Chinese government, research institutions, and the business community have worked together to make significant scientific progress and commercialization, making remarkable results in digital fields such as 5G communication, Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data,artificial intelligence, and blockchain.

Fourth, leading in the rules and regulations formulation in key areas such as digital finance and data security.The digital industry cannot get around the issue of financial operation and financing development.Fintech is one of the consequences of the rise of the global digital economy; some speculative activities on internet concepts and many types of digital tokens have challenged the stability of the global financial order.While some countries regard it as a disaster and some let it go, China has adopted a rational policy that encourages innovation, pilot trials and close supervision and stops them once dangers are identified.The Chinese approach has gained good results.At the same time, the Chinese government is also pioneering the deployment of e-CNY.The country is acknowledged as a leader in digital currency development from top-level design, standards development, safety precautions, and functional research.48Ba Shusong and Yao Shunda,“The Impact of Chinese Central Bank’s Digital Currency System on the Financial System,”Finance Forum,No.4, 2021, pp.5-8.

Fifth, putting forward the Global Data Security Initiative and the proposal of building a closer community of a shared future in cyberspace.There have been frequent cross-border data security issues in recent years.The dilemmas of global digital governance are closely associated with the data security challenges.In September 2020, China officially released the Global Data Security Initiative at the International Seminar on Global Digital Governance under the theme“seizing digital opportunities for cooperation and development,”proposing eight principles including approaching data security with an objective attitude, opposing data stealing, preventing privacy infringement, and respecting data jurisdiction.49Chinese Government Website,“Global Data Security Initiative (full text),”September 8,2020, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2020-09/08/content_5541579.htm.The initiative has been warmly appreciated by many countries, especially the developing countries.50Chinese State Council Information Office,“The International Community Praises China’s Global Data Security Initiative,”September 11, 2020, http://www.scio.gov.cn/37259/Document/1687026/1687026.htm.In November 2020, President Xi Jinping specifically stated at the first phase of the 15th G20 Summit that China is willing to discuss and formulate global digital governance rules with all parties on the basis of the Global Data Security Initiative.51“President Xi Jinping’s Speech at the First Phase of the 15th G20 Summit,”Xinhuanet,November 21, 2020, http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2020-11/21/c_1126770364.htm.In addition, the Chinese Information Office of the State Council released a white paper entitled“Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace.”Chapter four of the White Paper is dedicated to building a closer community with a shared future in cyberspace,including ten points such as respecting network sovereignty, creating an open digital environment, strengthening international cooperation, promoting data development and utilization, and building a better cyberspace.The chapter systematically expounded China’s expectations and approaches to digital development, and emphasized the goal of sharing the benefits of the Internet with all people.52Chinese State Council Information Office,“Together Building a Community of a Shared Future in Cyberspace.”

Conclusion

Moving into the digital age is a sign of civilization’s progress and is inevitable.The emergence of fresh challenges and new risks cannot be avoided when the changing speed of digital technology, industry and the economy get so fast.Toward the shared future of humankind, strengthening cooperation and supporting governance is the only way to address digital risks and challenges.

The international community, especially the digital powers and international organizations, have made many efforts to promote global digital governance and achieved some results thus far.However, it should be noted that the Western countries led by the United States blindly and narrowly target the rapid development of emerging economies in the digital sphere as a threat and regard the reasonable demands for fair and just development as a challenge to their hegemony.As a result, they are obstructing global digital governance discussion.This self-serving and short-sighted approach not only affects their own digital development, but also seriously undermines the common interests of the international community.

China is committed to realizing good governance.It has an objective and rational understanding of the governance dilemma and has never given up on tackling it.China has continued to work on fundamental principles,institutions and platforms, scientific and technological innovations, and crisis response to provide practical experiences and theoretical designs for global digital governance.In the future, China will continue to work with other countries to shape a new digital development paradigm that is fair,reasonable, open, inclusive, secure, stable and dynamic.China will share its insight, provide input, and contribute its strength to resolve the digital challenges and make greater contributions to global digital governance.