CHENGDU—Experts shed light on the modernization of the national governance system and high-quality economic and social development at the recent 14th Tsinghua University Public Management High-Level Forum.

China’s economy is shifting from high-speed to high-quality growth. This transformation has put forward new and higher requirements for the national governance system and governance capacity. Peng Gang, Tsinghua University’s assistant president, said that building a modern governance system that meets the new requirements of the new era is both an important part of and support for high-quality development.

Jiang Xiaojuan, dean of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, said that China is entering the era of the service economy, and the emergence of network digital technology will greatly improve the productivity of the service industry. China has outstanding advantages in the service economy and the internet and digital industry. The country should adjust its policy, enhance the efficiency of the service industry and promote its integration with the manufacturing industry, which will continuously improve China’s longterm growth capacity and promote high-quality economic development.

In terms of urban governance, attendees said that urban agglomerations are formed through the connections between cities. Unconnected cities do not constitute urban agglomerations even if they are geographically close together. Such industrial sectors as manufacturing are the cornerstones for the development of urban agglomerations.

The internet is increasingly integrating with the economic, social, cultural, scientific, political and military sectors. It is necessary to study and build a governance system that promotes the high-quality development of the digital economy and digital society.

Yu Qiao, a professor from the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, said that China’s local governments are faced with complex financial and economic governance systems, along with data fragmentation and challenges in the way of unification.

Smart government management can be achieved through building a government financial cloud supported by data technology, coupled with public resource management algorithms, Yu suggested. First we must aggregate fiscal, economic and financial data as well as data from state-owned assets to establish a comprehensive, dynamic, real-time and comprehensive database.

In addition, Yu suggested using public economic theory to form a methodology and algorithmic model that coordinates the different goals of various government departments. Moreover, we must build a government financial and economic cloud platform to achieve high-quality governance, Yu said.

While using the internet to create new development opportunities, it is also necessary to cope with the two major challenges of the increasing digital divide and network fragmentation, warned Li Xiaodong, director of the Tsinghua Institute for Internet Governance. In his view, a challenge is also an opportunity for potential development. We should fully understand and give full play to the advantages of multi-agent cogovernance, vigorously integrate governance policies and technical means, and strengthen innovation and development at the critical infrastructure level.