"Internet Plus": Unleashing New Momentum for China's Transformation

　　Before 2009, November 11 was just an ordinary day—but today, "Double 11" has become a massive shopping festival for online shoppers across the globe. The booming e-commerce industry has fueled growth in the logistics sector and even boosted the prosperity of upstream "Taobao Villages." This year, total express delivery volume is expected to reach 20 billion parcels, an eightfold increase compared to the early stages of the 12th Five-Year Plan—and nearly 70% of these deliveries will be driven by e-commerce platforms. Since 2009, "Taobao Villages," once nonexistent, have rapidly expanded to over 200 thriving communities.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping, speaking at the first meeting of the Central Leading Group on Cybersecurity and Informatization in February 2014, emphasized that informatization and economic globalization are mutually reinforcing, with the internet now deeply integrated into every aspect of social life, profoundly transforming both production and daily lifestyles. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the internet demonstrated its immense transformative power—terms like "cloud," "network," and "terminal" emerged as the new infrastructure for manufacturing, enabling enterprises to engage seamlessly with users anytime and anywhere, paving the way for customized production. Meanwhile, the internet has opened up vast opportunities for upgrading traditional industries. Additionally, innovative business models such as crowdfunding have flourished, while emerging sectors like digital healthcare and remote education have experienced rapid growth. The "Internet+" initiative continues to foster new drivers of economic growth, creating promising avenues for future development.

　　 Integrating innovation to reshape growth momentum

　　In the inner-drum production workshop of Haier’s drum washing machines, hardly anyone can be seen working—instead, the entire production line is operated in real time via a remote monitoring system. By leveraging smart manufacturing powered by the industrial internet, Haier has unlocked a fresh momentum for growth, achieving a revenue of 200.7 billion yuan in 2014, an 11% increase from the previous year. Adopting advanced technologies like industrial robots and IoT to transform traditional manufacturing processes has become the go-to strategy for an increasing number of manufacturing companies. According to data released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, industries such as aerospace, automotive, and rail transportation equipment have seen digital design tools widely adopted at rates exceeding 85%, while sectors like steel, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals boast CNC adoption rates surpassing 65% for their key production processes. By integrating the internet with computational intelligence and flexible manufacturing, companies are now able to deliver highly customized product solutions. Meanwhile, cloud computing enables the seamless sharing of distributed resources on cloud-based platforms, ensuring that manufacturing capabilities are available precisely when and where they’re needed. As a result, “Internet Plus” is emerging as a powerful new driver propelling manufacturing enterprises toward greater efficiency, innovation, and global competitiveness. China’s State Council recently unveiled the “Made in China 2025” initiative in May of this year, emphasizing that the country’s manufacturing transformation and upgrade must center around accelerating the deep integration of next-generation information technology with the manufacturing sector.

　　"Internet Plus" manufacturing is breathing new life into traditional industries, while internet-based entrepreneurship and innovation have become the most dynamic force driving economic activity. The emergence of numerous platform-based internet companies has catalyzed the convergence, interaction, and sharing of diverse innovation elements and entrepreneurial resources. Meanwhile, the rise of new models—such as crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and user-driven design—has paved the way for a widespread, flat, and open innovation ecosystem that encourages public participation on an unprecedented scale.

　　Data shows that the Taobao platform has spurred over 9 million individual online stores, Tencent's open platform has collectively supported more than 5 million entrepreneurial teams, and China's largest crowdsourcing service platform, Zhubajie Network, has completed a total of 3.85 million crowdsourcing tasks.

　　 Spreading across multiple areas, unleashing consumer vitality

　　By the end of September, "Lost in Hong Kong" topped the box office with total earnings exceeding 1.6 billion yuan, cementing its status as a blockbuster hit. The film's remarkable success is closely tied to its online distributor, Maoyan Movie, which not only leveraged its vibrant user base to drive additional ticket sales but also harnessed advanced big data analytics to provide valuable insights into audience demographics—such as age and geographic distribution—significantly boosting the efficiency of its promotional efforts.

　　The success of "Lost in Hong Kong," driven by the power of the internet, highlights how online platforms are reshaping how people enjoy leisure and entertainment. Data shows that 30% to 50% of moviegoers used online channels to select their seats before heading to the cinema. Meanwhile, statistics reveal that half of China's record-breaking box-office revenue this year can be directly attributed to innovative internet-based marketing strategies.

　　In fact, the internet is transforming our way of life—in every possible way.

　　You can order takeout either through a mobile app or by booking a chef to come home and cook for you. When it comes to housing, housing-related mobile apps not only let you search for property listings but also enable you to schedule property viewings and automatically compare prices. For transportation, there are plenty of online car-hailing platforms to choose from, while bus, train, and flight tickets can be booked instantly on your phone. As for daily essentials, nearly every household item is available on e-commerce platforms—and many O2O services even offer convenient at-home options like car washes and beauty treatments.

　　As the integration of the internet with various sectors of the economy and society continues to deepen, the internet is steadily giving rise to and nurturing new consumer demands. The information economy, driven primarily by the internet, is gradually developing into a massive market, emerging as a key highlight in economic growth. According to data released by the China Internet Network Information Center, in the first half of the year, the number of users engaging in mobile payments, mobile online shopping, and mobile travel bookings reached 276 million, 270 million, and 168 million, respectively, representing semi-annual growth rates of 26.9%, 14.5%, and 25%, respectively.

　　According to calculations by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China's information economy reached 16.2 trillion yuan in 2014, representing a year-on-year growth of 21% and accounting for more than 26% of GDP—making it a key driver of overall GDP expansion.

　　 Leverage the momentum of the times to strengthen the foundational support for "Internet Plus."

　　This year at the Two Sessions, "Internet+" made its debut in the Government Work Report. In July, the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting the 'Internet+' Initiative," outlining 11 key actions—such as "Internet+" entrepreneurship and innovation, and "Internet+" collaborative manufacturing—while officially recognizing the internet's foundational, pioneering, and strategic role in the national economy.

　　Over the past few months, from central government ministries to local governments, building and implementing a support system for the "Internet+" initiative has become a unanimous choice—

　　The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is leveraging intelligent manufacturing as a key breakthrough and strategic focus, vigorously promoting the integration of information technology with manufacturing. Meanwhile, it’s accelerating the development of high-speed broadband networks and driving initiatives to boost internet speeds while reducing costs, thereby enhancing the overall support provided by information infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce has unveiled the "Internet Plus Circulation Action Plan," outlining six priority tasks aimed at boosting e-commerce penetration in rural areas and other critical areas.

　　As of the end of June, China’s internet user base had reached 668 million, while mainstream fixed broadband connection speeds have increased from 2 Mbps to 8 Mbps. Meanwhile, the world’s largest 4G mobile communication network has already been fully deployed. According to Huai Jinpeng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, these figures and achievements clearly demonstrate that China today possesses a robust foundation for driving the development and continued growth of “Internet Plus.”

　　A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By steadily advancing the "Internet Plus" initiative, traditional industries will regain new vitality, while emerging sectors will continue to flourish—jointly propelling China’s economy toward the mid-to-high end of global development.