?In recent years, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries' cooperation in the digital economy has yielded rewarding results.

Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the construction of China-ASEAN Information Harbor, a major supplier of information and communications technologies, was officially launched in 2015.

It has since promoted the digital connectivity and cooperation between China and ASEAN, and achieved initial results, Lu Dongliang, Chairman and President of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Co. Ltd., told S&T Daily.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the China-ASEAN Information Harbor on December 14 and conducted a field study concerning economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN, development and application of informatization, improvements of the urban community governance system and strengthening ethnic unity.

With the help of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor, three international submarine optical cables and 12 international land optical cables have been built to connect ASEAN countries, while a trans-boundary optical cable has been built across the Indo-China Peninsula, improving the connectivity between China and ASEAN.

Last year, China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion RMB (roughly 7 trillion USD), ranking second globally. Southeast Asia's digital economy, despite economic headwinds, "remains on course to reach nearly 200 billion USD in gross merchandise value in 2022" with a 20 percent increase, according to the latest e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, acknowledging that was three years earlier than they had expected.

The China-ASEAN Information Harbor's digital economy exhibition center showcases a daily increase in cross-border trade on its electronic display. Serving as a platform for customs declaration data connectivity with 25 countries globally, it offers customers a comprehensive, one-stop digital service for cross-border trade, enabling same-day trading and customs clearance of border exchanges. As of December 17, the platform's trade declaration amount for the year had exceeded 590 billion RMB.

An initiative on Southeast Asia digital economy development cooperation was launched at the 2023 Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 1.

The initiative, was jointly launched by China Mobile, the country's leading telecommunications operator, and partners from Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. The initiative aims to accelerate the digital transformation of industries in Southeast Asia and foster the region's digital economy.

Gao Tongqing, executive vice president of China Mobile Communications Group, told the conference that his company saw the event as an opportune time to move forward with its partners to accelerate collaboration between the digital economies of China and Southeast Asia.