On June 27, the launch ceremony of the 2024 Beijing Digital Economy Experience Week & Digital Consumption Festival kicked off in Shougang Park. As an important part of the Global Digital Economy Conference, the event has been successfully held for three times. With the theme of "Empowering the Future with Digitalization, Driving Innovation with Consumption", this event displays the latest achievements of the digital economy and promotes the prosperity and development of the digital consumer market through a series of colorful activities. More than 150 representatives attended the launch ceremony, including Liu Meiying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal People's Government, Jiang Guangzhi, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Li Xin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Shijingshan District, as well as leaders of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, and various districts of Beijing, and outstanding entrepreneurs. 

Opened on June 27, the event will last until July 2. It set up a number of experience spaces set up throughout Beijing, including benchmark application scenarios such as information consumption experience centers, digital economy enterprise exhibition halls, and Shougang Park Warehouse Metaverse Experience Complex. The event aims to fully activate the application of digital technology through comprehensive achievement display and interactive experiences of all fields and scenarios of the digital economy, promote the pilot trial of nation-leading digital innovation solutions for metaverse, large models and related technology enterprises, lead business ecosystem transformation with systematic innovation, and inject new momentum into Beijing’s efforts to build a benchmark city for the digital economy and promote the high-quality development of the digital economy and digital industries.

In her speech at the launch ceremony, Liu Meiying pointed out that Beijing has fully implemented a series of deployments and requirements made by the central leadership on the development of the digital economy, and accelerated the construction of a global digital economy benchmark city and an international consumption center city. In the first quarter of this year, the added value of the city’s digital economy reached 456.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, accounting for 43.1% of the city’s GDP. The total consumption of the market increased by 5.8% compared to the same period of last year, of which service consumption increased by 12% year-on-year. The demand for cultural tourism was strong, and transportation and information services continued to improve. In the next step, Beijing will adhere to the five-pronged coordinated development, give full play to the role of digital technology in empowering the real economy and promoting the quality and expansion of new consumption, and make every effort to promote the construction of a global digital economy benchmark city and build an international consumption center city.

It is reported that the event displays each product from each of Beijing's "16+1" districts, with "digital technology + living consumption" as the main line. Through activities such as releasing the digital economy experience routes under the theme of "A Joyful Tour of Digital Beijing", inaugurating information consumption centers in Beijing, jointly issuing large model experience tickets, and organizing the Metaverse Innovative Products Experience Season, it attracted many enterprises related to the industrial chain of the digital economy, as well as consumers, to participate. Focusing on themes like digital technology, digital industry, and digital life, it lets visitors experience the charm of the digital economy and learn about Beijing’s achievements in the development of the digital economy.

During the event, various digital innovation achievements attracted attention from visitors. From cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud computing to application scenarios such as smart home, digital healthcare, and online education, the digital economy has demonstrated its great potential and broad prospects. This year's event launched the Metaverse Innovative Products Experience Season for the first time, and unveiled a series of special experience routes under the theme of "A Joyful Tour of Digital Beijing". The main venue also set up an immersive interactive experience area for the digital economy, including many AI application scenarios, metaverse, digital human and other experience activities. Through on-site demonstrations and interactive experiences, relevant enterprises enable visitors to have a deeper understanding of the application and advantages of digital technology. Besides, this event has also achieved a comprehensive upgrade in the digital consumption experience. Through the integration of online and offline activities, major businesses provide consumers with richer consumption choices and more convenient consumption experiences.

In recent years, China’s digital economy has seen rapid development and realized world-shocking achievements. It has become an important driving force to accelerate the flow of production factors, improve the efficiency of market-based resource allocation, drive the upgrading of traditional industries, and promote the transformation of production methods. This year’s successful Digital Economy Experience Week & Digital Consumption Festival not only presented an unprecedented scientific and technological feast and consumption experiences to the public, but also provided new ideas and paths for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.