China maps out digital government plan to 2035 as Beijing taps technology to improve its overall efficiency and control

China has drafted a grand “digital government” plan through to 2035, as the state seeks to improve its governance of the world’s most populous country through digital technologies.

In the blueprint published on Thursday, titled Guidelines for Strengthening the Construction of Digital Government, China’s State Council said that it aims to build a comprehensive data-driven system by 2025 to help the government to draw up scientific, accurate and efficient governance policies. By 2035, the government will be transformed digitally and achieve a higher governance capacity, according to the document.

While the document lacks details, it sets out Beijing’s ambition for using technology to strengthen its authoritarian rule and deliver better governance results. The government’s existing use of digital technologies in areas such as surveillance and credit scoring is already substantial, prompting some criticism at home and overseas.

In one instance, there was public disquiet after local officials in Zhengzhou, capital city of eastern-central Henan province, were found to have abused the digital traffic-light health code system, which was introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19. Officials used the data to restrict the movement of potential dissidents and people who protested after losing money in local small banks.

According to the digital government plan issued on Thursday, China needs to improve its application of digital technologies to perform government functions. One key focus is “big data” analysis in macroeconomic management to improve Beijing’s performance in managing the world’s second-largest economy.

“China will strengthen economic data integration, collection and management to develop databases of economic governance … and China will apply big data to enhance economic analysis and warning,” according to the plan.