27th Biweekly Policy Analysis Meeting: Promoting the Healthy Development of the Digital Content Economy

On November 29, 2025, the 27th Biweekly Policy Analysis Meeting, titled “Promoting the Healthy Development of the Digital Content Economy”, was held. The event was hosted by the National Academy of Development and Strategy (NADS) of Renmin University of China (RUC) and organized by the Institute for Macroeconomic Governance of NADS. The session was chaired by Professor ZHANG Yu from the School of Economics at RUC. Renowned scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on key issues in the current digital content sector and proposed a series of policy recommendations.

Experts attending the session agreed that emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI), are profoundly reshaping the development landscape of the digital content economy. On the one hand, AI is comprehensively empowering the digital content industry, driving its evolution toward greater intelligence, personalization, and integration. On the other hand, the digital cultural industry demonstrates strong job-creation potential. Although the digital content economy plays a significant role in empowering traditional industries and advancing structural upgrading, it faces many challenges in statistical monitoring. These challenges mainly stem from the mismatch between existing statistical accounting systems and emerging business models, the complexity and diversity of the digital content industry value chain, the difficulty of quantifying and valuing free services, and the underdeveloped mechanisms for defining rights over data assets, all of which hinder accurate assessment of the industry’s real contribution.

To promote the sustained and healthy development of the digital content industry, experts suggested advancing work in seven key areas:

Uphold a content orientation that prioritizes “people-centered development and quality first”, placing social benefits at the forefront and ensuring the alignment of social and economic benefits.

Implement inclusive and prudent regulation while improving the intellectual property protection system.

Strengthen the leading role of scientific and technological innovation and build an industrial structure characterized by coordinated development among enterprises of all sizes.

Promote cross-sector integration to empower urban renewal, industrial upgrading, and rural revitalization.

Develop a scientific understanding of the job-creation function of the digital content industry and leverage it effectively.

Build a modern statistical system and improve the market mechanisms for data as a production factor.

Advance the internationalization of the digital content industry and enhance global competitiveness.

(The above views are compiled from the statements made by participants at the 27th Biweekly Policy Analysis Meeting held on November 29, 2025. It is intended solely for academic exchange and does not represent the views of the National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China.)

Proofreader: ZOU Jingxian

Translator: ZHANG Yuqing

Web Editor: ZHANG Jingjing