Gao Ying: From Digital "Fission" to Global "Symbiosis": A New Philosophical Horizon and Economic Outlook Under Cyberspace
In the present era, the rapid development of digital technology acts like a world-shaking "fission," constantly reshaping every aspect of economy and society while embedding itself deeply into the fabric of global development. From technological breakthroughs to industrial iteration, the digital realm exhibits a "fission-style" developmental momentum. This process has not only given rise to a flourishing digital economy and leveraged iterative innovation in technology, but has also brought profound transformations to the modes of human social interaction, collaboration, and even existence within the dimension of cyberspace. Information flows rapidly across borderless networks, breaking down geographical barriers while simultaneously highlighting the complexity of global digital governance. Looking across global cyberspace, the construction of a community with a shared future [1] and joining hands to move toward "symbiosis" has become an increasingly urgent vision. Building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is the breakthrough strategy for balancing the international digital landscape and ensuring equity and justice. Against the interwoven backdrop of contemporary tides and grand narratives, the construction of a community with a shared future in cyberspace has already become a critical journey for the world as it moves toward the digital age. It is closely integrated with and mutually empowers core elements such as technological innovation, international cooperation, and cultural diversity and inclusiveness, collectively sketching a grand blueprint of "symbiosis" where the world walks hand in hand and "rejoices in the beauty of others" [2] in the digital age, anchoring the forward direction for the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity in the virtual world.
Digital "Fission": Technological Innovation Driving Industrial Metamorphosis
In recent years, achievements in the field of digital technology have emerged in a "blowout" fashion, with the speed of innovation and iteration constantly refreshing our perceptions. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "digital technology, with its new concepts, new business forms, and new models, is being comprehensively integrated into all fields and the entire process of human economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction, bringing extensive and profound impacts to human production and life." Artificial Intelligence has advanced from early simple algorithms and model recognition to the current stage of Large Language Models (LLMs) capable of deep semantic understanding, autonomous learning, and completing complex tasks. Big data mining allows massive amounts of disordered data to be transformed into key information for precise market and user insight. In the field of AI, machine learning and deep learning continue to improve; applications such as intelligent voice assistants and image recognition systems are blossoming everywhere, not only enhancing service efficiency but also changing human-computer interaction modes. They are infiltrating deeply into various industries—including medical imaging diagnosis and traffic dispatch—making production and life more intelligent and convenient.
Big data technology is like a "data mine" containing endless treasures; enterprises use it to accurately analyze consumer preferences and market trends, realizing precision marketing and personalized customization, driving the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing toward intelligent manufacturing, and installing a precision "navigator" for industrial development. Blockchain technology, by virtue of its decentralized and immutable characteristics, is reshaping trust mechanisms, simplifying cross-border payment processes and reducing risks in the financial field, and ensuring transparency across the entire commodity information chain in terms of product traceability, effectively strengthening the bonds of trust between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. 5G technology empowers all walks of life with ultra-high speeds and ultra-low latency; real-time interconnection and remote control of equipment in the industrial internet have become possible, tele-medicine allows high-quality medical resources to cross geographical limitations, and the virtual reality industry has ushered in explosive growth. Edge computing pushes computing power to the edge of the network, meeting the high requirements for immediate response in autonomous driving and intelligent security. These frontier technologies interweave and work in synergy, constantly breaking old industrial boundaries and giving birth to a large number of new business forms. The digital economy industry is flourishing, opening a brand-new chapter.
Global "Symbiosis": The Sublimation of the Concept of a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace
At present, global cyberspace is rife with disorder; security threats such as cyberattacks and data breaches are pervasive. Certain hegemonic countries wantonly wield the "digital cudgel," leveraging their technological monopolies to manipulate public opinion, launch cyberattacks, and violate the sovereignty of other nations. Meanwhile, in underdeveloped countries and regions, due to lagging network infrastructure and a lack of digital literacy, the proportion of internet users is low and connection speeds are slow; a digital divide looms large, leaving the public blocked from the gates of digital dividends and trailing far behind the train of the digital age. The concept of a community with a shared future in cyberspace emerged as the times required, born against the backdrop of digital technology impacting the global landscape, carrying the vision of humanity jointly navigating the digital tide and moving toward shared prosperity. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Cyberspace is a common space for human activities; the future and destiny of cyberspace should be held in the hands of all countries in the world." This concept follows the philosophical principles of equality, mutual trust, and win-win results; all countries, regardless of strength, possess "discourse power" [3] in network governance. This concept emphasizes multilateral cooperation, where all countries, regardless of size or strength, can participate in the formulation of network rules, moving cyberspace governance from "dominance by one" toward "polycentric co-governance." It advocates for resource sharing, assisting underdeveloped countries in consolidating digital infrastructure and improving digital literacy through technical assistance and knowledge sharing. It upholds the principle of collective security maintenance, jointly combating cybercrime and guarding the stability of the global network ecosystem. At the 2024 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, delegates from various countries engaged in in-depth exchanges around this concept, sharing successful experiences in joint network security protection, assistance in digital infrastructure construction, and cross-border cooperation in digital technology. China has taken the lead by providing assistance to many African countries in laying network cables and building data centers, sharing network security protection technologies, exporting expertise, and cultivating talent, thereby contributing Chinese strength to global balanced digital development.
A Dialectical Examination of Economic Outlook and the New Philosophical Landscape
Digital "fission" and global "symbiosis" embody a profound dialectical relationship. The "fission" of digital technological innovation is a direct manifestation of a leap in the productive forces, following the principle that the productive forces determine the relations of production. As digital industrialization and industrial digitalization reshape the economic landscape, they force innovations at the level of the relations of production—such as global cyberspace governance rules and digital economy regulatory policies—calling for the birth of new international relations concepts like the community with a shared future in cyberspace to adapt to the needs of the high-speed development of digital productive forces.
Currently, the digital economy has become an important engine of national economic growth, and its potential must be continuously tapped in the future. On one hand, we must increase investment in basic research, encouraging deep integration of industry, academia, and research between universities, research institutes, and enterprises to overcome "chokepoint" [4] key technologies such as quantum communication and brain-computer interfaces. On the other hand, we must accelerate the transformation of technological achievements into actual productive forces and promote intelligent manufacturing demonstration zones, allowing new technologies and models to take root in frontline industries. The "going global" of the digital economy is also a highlight. We should leverage the "East Wind" [5] of the Belt and Road Initiative to expand cross-border e-commerce cooperation networks and export our country's mature digital payment and e-commerce operation models. We should encourage internet enterprises to go overseas, participate in global network infrastructure projects, and export 5G and cloud computing technologies, making "Chinese digital brands" famous in international competition and cooperation. Concurrently, the construction of a community with a shared future in cyberspace builds a solid foundation for the globalization of the digital economy; policy communication and rule coordination between countries can resolve disputes over cross-border data flows and digital taxation, escorting the global layout of digital enterprises.
At present, opportunities and challenges coexist in the process of global digitalization. Global networks are interconnected; we prosper together and suffer together [6]. The development of the digital economy changes rapidly. Only by consulting together, building together, and learning from each other—creating an open, cooperative, and secure international environment—can all countries enter the fast lane of development and achieve sustainable development. Positioned within the digital tide, we witness the power of technological innovation’s "fission" while holding fast to the "symbiotic" vision of building a community with a shared future in global cyberspace. This great game of the digital age is being played out step by step on the global chessboard, gradually reaching a high point. On the journey ahead, all sectors should consolidate their strength and "row the boat with focused determination" [7], letting the light of the digital age benefit all corners of the world and creating a beautiful tomorrow for cyberspace.
(Gao Ying, Researcher at the Henan Provincial Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)
Source: Guangming Online · "Green Pepper Talk" (Qingjiao Tan) Web Editor: Huihui