A concept photo of digital economy Photo: VCG

A seemingly ordinary Tuesday turned out to be a milestone day for domestic platform firms, which have been at the center of a regulatory whirlwind since late 2020, with a special meeting convened by the country's top political consultative body reaffirming the country's support for the digital economy and revitalizing the mainstay of China's digital prowess.

And official statements of support continue to emerge on Wednesday. While presiding over a symposium on stabilizing growth and ensuring employment in Southwest China's Yunnan Province on Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang also pledged to support domestic and overseas listings by companies in the platform economy and digital economy that comply with laws and regulations.

The momentous meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee on Tuesday offers domestic platform firms a much-needed dose of reassurance, industry observers said, voicing optimism on a more predictable policy environment in the meeting's wake.

They expected the platform economy to remain a vital contributor to economic growth as well as the economy's rising profile on the global stage, on the back of government oversight on a regular basis.

Baidu founder and chairman Robin Li Yanhong, also a member of the CPPCC National Committee, was among executives of major private tech firms invited to attend Tuesday's meeting.

During a speech at the meeting, Li Yanhong said that "over the past few years, the digital economy has played the role of a driver in the country's economic growth, but [the digital economy's] growth has moderated over the past two years, [and it] needs to find new growth engines for its development," according to a company statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

In a fresh sign of subdued growth, Chinese internet giant Tencent on Wednesday reported 135.5 billion yuan ($20 billion) in revenue for the first quarter, flat versus last year, while its net profits, using non-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), totaled 25.5 billion yuan, down 23 percent year-on-year. 

Li Yanhong's speech focused on accelerating the remaking of the nation's infrastructure as intelligent, creating a globally competitive innovation environment and fostering a new era for the digital economy. He appeared in person at the meeting.

Other major platform giants, including Alibaba and Didi, didn't respond to a request for comment.

Twenty-nine political advisors and experts spoke at the gathering, while over 140 political advisors made remarks via a mobile platform, according to the Xinhua News Agency, which didn't identify the platform business executives who attended the meeting.

In remarks to the CPPCC National Committee meeting in Beijing, Vice Premier Liu He said that the country should support the sustained, healthy development of the platform economy and the private sector, mull measures to boost the orderly and sound development of the platform economy, and encourage platform firms to take part in major national sci-tech innovation projects.

Liu also vowed to support the listing of digital firms in the capital markets both domestically and overseas, and continue to endorse the opening-up of the digital economy.

Describing the milestone meeting as defusing anxieties among domestic internet firms, Fang Xingdong, founder of Beijing-based technology think tank ChinaLabs, said that the government has actively played its part in overseeing the platform economy and sought to provide a stable and predictable policy environment for platform businesses.

The regulatory push itself is intended to pave the way for better development, Fang told the Global Times on Wednesday.

A regulatory toughening since late 2020 put the brakes on fintech giant Ant Group's dual IPOs in Shanghai and Hong Kong, slapped a record antitrust fine on Alibaba, and hit Didi with an unprecedented cybersecurity probe, among other wide-ranging screening measures and rectification steps aimed at reining in some of the freewheeling platforms' practices. 
 
After the recent cycle of regulations, internet firms are greeting the market and serving consumers with a more compliant posture, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based tech analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Instead of heralding a regulatory easing, as some foreign media outlets have speculated, the Tuesday meeting indicates that China's platform economy has entered a stage of regular oversight," Liu noted.

Digital firms will head toward healthy and sustainable development as the country's oversight of its internet sphere becomes the norm, according to Pan Helin, joint director of the Research Center for Digital Economics and Financial Innovation affiliated with Zhejiang University's International Business School.

Government measures to boost the healthy development of platform firms are expected to be in the pipeline, according to Fang.

Pro-growth measures to encourage internet firms into playing their part in revving up economic growth at large would be on the table, he said.

The government would roll out policies, including stepping up tax and fee reductions for internet enterprises, Liu said.

The fundamentals of the domestic platform economy remain intact, judging by the internet population, commitments to digital infrastructure and an accelerated digital transformation across a wide range of industries, Fang remarked.

On top of that, as industry watchers pointed out, the government would champion local digital firms' expansion into overseas markets, for there to be global internet heavyweights in accordance with global laws and regulations.