China declares a new era of digitization has begun

China's president Xi Jinping has declared "there can be no modernization without informatization,” and outlined a strategy for how the world's most populous nation will use information technology to transform society and government.

A document posted by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) quotes Xi as saying "informatization has brought a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to the Chinese nation" and outlines a range of digital transformation tasks that must be achieved under the 14th five year plan (2021–2026) to achieve the desired level of digitization.

One development touted as enabling Chinese society to reach its next level of digitization is the creation of a "one card" which will expand on China's existing digital social security card that serves in employment and social insurance matters. The proposed card will add integration of government services, medical and drug purchases, subsidy management and more.