A new report has found that China’s digital and Internet economy remains heavily concentrated in giant urban centres of Beijing, Shanghai and southern Guangdong province.
CCID Consulting recently released its China Digital Economy Development Index (DEDI), which found that the Jing-Jin-Ji region around Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta region around Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta in southern Guangdong province were the core hubs for the development of China’s digital economy.
According to CCID these regions all enjoy major advantages in terms of human resources and financing, while also possessing industrial bases to serve as foundations for the development of digital technologies and their integration with the real economy.
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province are collectively host to nearly 70% of China’s top 100 internet companies.
CCID formulated its DEDI scores based on the four key areas of infrastructure, industry, integration and environment, providing assessments of the digital economic development levels of 31 province-level entities in China.
The average DEDI score in 2020 was 29.6, with only 10 regions scoring above the average, and Guangdong province coming in first place with a score of 65.3.
Beijing took second place, followed by Jiangsu province in third, Zhejiang province in fourth and Shanghai in fifth position.
The Top 15 Chinese Province-level Administrative Entities in the 2020 China Digital Economic Development Index
| Rank | Province | Score |
| 1 | Guangdong | 65.3 |
| 2 | Beijing | 55 |
| 3 | Jiangsu | 52.2 |
| 4 | Zhejiang | 51.5 |
| 5 | Shanghai | 45.5 |
| 6 | Shandong | 42.8 |
| 7 | Fujian | 38.6 |
| 8 | Sichuan | 36.6 |
| 9 | Henan | 35 |
| 10 | Hubei | 32.5 |
| 11 | Hebei | 29.6 |
| 12 | Hunan | 29.6 |
| 13 | Anhui | 29.3 |
| 14 | Chongqing | 28.8 |
| 15 | Jiangxi | 28.5 |
