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A program aiming to safeguard digital security and a series of software security standards have been unveiled at the ongoing Global Digital Economy Conference 2023, aiming to tackle security challenges facing the digital economy.

At present, the program has attracted more than 100 member companies from various industries, including energy, finance, transportation, and manufacturing.

The program, named "Digital Security Escort Program," is an exchange platform jointly initiated by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and various industry sectors.

The program will focus on innovation and development of digital technology, the construction of digital security ecology and the construction of the data elements market, the CAICT said at the conference.

In 2022, the scale of China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan ($6.93 trillion), ranking second in the world. While the digital economy is booming, digital security is still a key issue.

Security is a prerequisite for the development of the digital economy, Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi An Xin Technology Group, told the Global Times on Thursday on the sidelines of the 2023 Beijing Cyber Security Conference, a sub-conference at the Global Digital Economy Conference 2023.

"Now we are entering the age of digital intelligence, and data has changed dramatically. In the age of digital intelligence, attacking digital intelligence systems is tantamount to attacking our real society. In other words, cyberspace and real society are completely integrated. Therefore, attacks on digital intelligence systems may be a major form of war and crime in the future," said Qi.

Qi noted that new difficulties in cyber and digital security have emerged, resulting in new imbalances of defense forces and attacks.

"How to solve these imbalances? We need to invest more money in the budget, and we need to invest more cyber defense power," said Qi.

He also stressed that digital intelligence begins with built-in security, when addressing the 2023 Beijing Cyber Security Conference.

At present, the digital economy is leading the new direction of global economic development, becoming a key force in restructuring global resources, reshaping global economic structure, and changing the global competition pattern. Cyberspace security is the key to guide the development of the digital economy, and is the premise for building new advantages in the digital era.

In February, China unveiled the Overall Layout Plan for the Construction of Digital China, which aims to strengthen the "two capacities" of digital technology - innovation systems and digital security shields.

The country vowed to build a self-reliant and self-strengthening digital technology innovation system, as well as a firm, reliable, and controllable digital security shield.

Currently, the core industry of the digital economy continues to grow and become an important force to promote the development of the digital economy.

In the first five months of 2023, China's software business revenue exceeded 4.3 trillion yuan, up 13.3 percent year-on-year, and information technology service revenue totaled 2.84 trillion yuan, of which cloud computing and big data services totaled 436.6 billion yuan, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"We provided computing power for after effects for videos, such as Wandering Earth II, with our Shenzhen-based partner who provided algorithms," Xia Hai, director of the Construction and Development Department of Guiyang New District Science and Technology Innovation Industry Development Co, told the Global Times.

According to Xia, China's increasing computing power has helped the company to gain more international customers. The company has settled down in the Guiyang Big Data Sci-Tech Innovation City in Gui'an New Area in Guizhou.

According to the Guiyang bureau of investment promotion, 307 new industry projects were introduced in the first quarter of 2023 in Guiyang and Gui'an New Area, with a total investment of 70.31 billion yuan ($10.21 billion).

In 2022, the digital economy accounted for 44 percent of the GDP growth in Guiyang and Gui'an New Area. The integration index of big data and the real economy reached 53 percent. In particular, the software and information technology services sector contributed 44.5 percent to local economic growth, according to statistics from the local government.