Jointly organized by the Internet Society of China (ISC) and the BRICS Business Council Deregulation and Investment Support Group, the first BRICS Countries Digital Economy Seminar was held in Shenzhen on July 7, 2017. Experts and scholars from network communication industry associations, research institutes, telecom operators, and Internet companies from India, South Africa, China, and Russia attended the seminar.

As a world-recognized new economy, new business model, and new kinetic energy, digital economy is one of the innovation topics of the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit and has also become a “Chinese wisdom” that contributes to the world economy. On January 1, 2017, China officially took over the rotating chairmanship of the BRICS Business Council. At the India Interim Meeting of the BRICS Business Council in March, as a China council member, China Unicom introduced the digital economy experience-sharing mechanism to promote the co-prosperity and development of countries in the digital economy, promote the elimination of trade barriers in the digital economy, promote trade facilitation in traditional fields, and create new impetus for the economic development of BRICS countries.

Themed on the experience-sharing in the digital economy development of BRICS countries, representatives from China Unicom, Rhodes University of South Africa, MAIT Institute of India, Tencent, and JD Financial Corporation of China, respectively released keynote speeches on the achievements and challenges of digital economy development in BRICS countries from the perspective of telecommunications developed strategies, digital fundamental, cross-national and cross-cultural exchanges, mobile Internet applications, Internet finance. 

Panelists expressed in their free discussion that they expected the BRICS countries could strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the digital economy to jointly cope with the challenges of the digital divide, network and information security, laws and regulations, and jointly promote the development of the digital economy, enhance the overall competitiveness of BRICS countries.




（Rosalyn）