China’s Digital Economy: Opportunities and Risks

January 17, 2019

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Longmei Zhang, and Sally Chen. China’s Digital Economy: Opportunities and Risks, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2019) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

China’s digital economy has expanded rapidly in recent years. While average digitalization of the economy remains lower than in advanced economies, digitalization is already high in certain regions and sectors, in particular e-commerce and fintech, and costal regions. Such transformation has boosted productivity growth, with varying impact on employment across sectors. Going forward, digitalization will continue to reshape the Chinese economy by improving efficiency, softening though not reversing, the downward trend of potential growth as the economy matures. The government should play a vital role in maximizing the benefits of digitalization while minimizing related risks, such as potential labor disruption, privacy infringement, emerging oligopolies, and financial risks.

Subject: Digital economy, Digitalization, Economic sectors, Employment, Financial services, Fintech, Information technology in revenue administration, Labor, Revenue administration, Technology

Keywords: Aggregate employment growth, China, Data sharing, Digital economy, Digitalization, Employment, Financial stability, Fintech, Fintech company, Fintech industry, Firm, Firms in the U.S., Global, ICT company, Industry, Information technology in revenue administration, Market structure, Money market fund, Pay, Payment, Productivity, Supply chain, Third-party payment platform, Third-party payment system, Venture capital, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

24
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2019/016
Stock No:

WPIEA2019016
ISBN:

9781484389706
ISSN:

1018-5941

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