Forum highlights Shanghai's success in digital governance
Shanghai is taking a scientific, refined, and intelligent digital governance approach to all-round digital transformation in social life, economics and governance fields and building an international digital capital.
In recent years, the city has launched 40 key integrated government affairs services involving social relief, medical treatment payment, business license changes, enterprise tax payment, disabled assistance, and application for a temporary residence permit.
A seminar held over the weekend heard that these services have cut 70 percent of procedures and 75 percent of materials, reducing visits by applicants. More than 12 million affairs were handled, benefiting over 3.1 million enterprises and individuals.
Shanghai government's deputy secretary-general Xu Huili said digitalization has empowered many areas of life, from medical treatment and education to consumption and transportation.
Health care has intelligent outpatient advice and electronic medical bills, while transportation features smart "one-stop" transportation.
At the forum, China Economic Information Service, a subsidiary of Xinhua News Agency, released its 2023 report on Chinese cities' digital competitiveness index, ranking Shanghai first based on the fundamentals of digital construction, digitalization empowering social development, digital power, and the digital development environment.
Shanghai scored 89.17 points and joined Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Hangzhou in the top digital transformation tier. The report sampled 32 cities.
The research advised cities to promote digital transformation with diversified development and let the public experience its benefits.