Recently, the Fourth National Alliance Conference on Digital Economics Discipline Construction and the Seminar on “Digital Economy Empowering Hainan Free Trade Port Construction” was successfully held at University of Sanya. Over one hundred experts and scholars from universities, research institutes, and industry enterprises across the country gathered to discuss the theme “Digital Economy Empowering Hainan Free Trade Port Construction,” jointly deliberating on the development of digital economics disciplines, talent cultivation, and industrial empowerment, thereby contributing intellectual resources and strength to high-quality development of the digital economy and construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

This conference was jointly organized by the National Alliance for Digital Economics Education Development, the Digital Economy Professional Committee of the China Western Research and Development Promotion Association, and University of Sanya; co-hosted by the School of Business Administration of University of Sanya and the Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Financial Innovation and Multi-Asset Intelligent Trading; and supported by the National Editorial Committee of Economics and Management Journals, multiple core journals, and technology enterprises. It is a high-level, top-tier academic event in China’s digital economics education field.

Professor Xu Xianchun, former Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Statistics; Professor Huang Qunhui, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the National Guidance Committee for Graduate Education in Digital Economics; Professor Qi Yudong, member of the National Guidance Committee for Graduate Education in Digital Economics and Dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration at Beijing Normal University; Professor Sun Baowen, founder of the National Alliance for Digital Economics Education Development, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education’s Teaching Guidance Committee for E-Commerce, and Dean of the China Institute of Internet Economy at Central University of Finance and Economics; Professor Sun Qiming, Director of the Digital Economy Professional Committee of the China Western Research and Development Promotion Association and former Dean of the School of Humanities, Law, and Economics at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications; Professor Tang Lizhi, Secretary-General of the Digital Economy Professional Committee of the China Western Research and Development Promotion Association and Professor at the School of Economics, Xiamen University—among over one hundred authoritative experts and scholars—attended this event.

Professor Zhu Qinfu, Vice President of University of Sanya, delivered an opening speech. He stated that the Hainan Free Trade Port is accelerating the development of open digital economic industrial systems—including digital trade, digital finance, and digital culture & tourism—and the digital economy has become the core engine driving Free Trade Port construction. University of Sanya consistently anchors itself in Hainan while serving national development goals; it has deeply integrated its strengths in finance, management, and economics to establish the School of Business Administration, focusing on cutting-edge fields such as digital economics and financial technology. The university is building an AI-empowered, project-driven ecosystem structure to fully support high-quality development of the Hainan Free Trade Port. It looks forward to leveraging this high-level academic exchange platform to join hands with experts nationwide in promoting deep integration of industry-university-research-application in the digital economy, thus injecting new momentum and vitality into the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Professor Sun Baowen, founder of the National Alliance for Digital Economics Education Development, noted in his speech that, over its five years of existence, the Alliance has pooled high-quality resources from more than 200 universities nationwide and vigorously advanced the construction of digital economics discipline systems and innovations in talent cultivation models. It has become an important platform for exchanges and cooperation within China’s digital economics education sector. Currently, digital economics programs are developing rapidly, yet there remains an urgent need to clarify disciplinary frameworks, deepen industry-education integration, and precisely align with industrial demands. The Alliance will continue to serve as a vital bridge and bond, promoting tangible progress, expansion, and strengthening of digital economics programs to support high-quality development of digital economics education.

Professor Sun Qiming, Director of the Digital Economy Professional Committee of the China Western Research and Development Promotion Association, shared reflections and outlooks on the era of digital economy in light of current AI development trends. He stated that the digital economy represents not only a profound transformation in modes of production but also an entirely new social form. Universities and academia should proactively embrace technological change and guide young students toward proper application of digital technologies while upholding scholarly integrity, thereby safeguarding healthy and orderly development of the digital economy.

During the conference, plenary reports, parallel forums, journal forums, and roundtable forums were held sequentially, creating a vibrant academic atmosphere on-site. Participating experts shared insights on frontier topics including intelligent economy, AI development strategy, digital economy and new quality productive forces, and digital accounting reform.

Professor Huang Qunhui delivered a plenary report titled “The Emergence of the Intelligent Economy and the Mission of Economists.” He stated that, grounded in the developmental needs of new-type industrialization and new quality productive forces, we must clarify the evolutionary logic from the industrial economy to the intelligent economy, supporting industrial security through construction of computing power infrastructure and nationwide unified planning, thereby serving the modern industrial system. Professor Qi Yudong delivered a plenary report titled “Divergences Between Technological and Governance Approaches to Artificial Intelligence Development and China’s Strategic Choices.” He pointed out that AI has entered its singularity phase, and global governance pathways are diverging; China should prioritize technological advancement while ensuring scientific regulation, continuously fostering an innovation-friendly environment through regulatory reform. Professor Sun Baowen delivered a plenary report titled “Mechanisms Through Which the Digital Economy Facilitates Realization of New Quality Productive Forces.” He emphasized that the digital economy constitutes the foundational core of the intelligent economy and can reshape productive forces and production relations via the “interconnection–data–integration–fusion” model, unleashing new quality productive forces through dual drivers of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization. Professor Xu Bo delivered a plenary report titled “Exploring Practice-Oriented Talent Cultivation in AI+Digital Economy and Industry-Education Integration Models.” He stated that AI-era digital economy talent cultivation faces multiple challenges, requiring a tiered, scenario-based curriculum system that introduces real-world enterprise scenarios into campuses early, focusing on cultivating talents proficient in business, data, AI, and operations.

Professor Xu Xianchun delivered a plenary report titled “Revisions to International Standards on Digital Accounting and Corresponding Reforms Facing China’s National Economic Accounting System.” He pointed out that international digital accounting standards have been updated, necessitating corresponding reforms to China’s national economic accounting system—including incorporation of new elements such as data assets and establishment of a full-chain statistical framework. Professor Yao Bo delivered a plenary report titled “Exploring the Quality of Digital Economy Talent Cultivation.” He emphasized that digital economy talent cultivation suffers from ambiguous positioning, insufficient interdisciplinary integration, weak faculty capacity, and disconnection between industry and education; therefore, quality enhancement should follow an interdisciplinary, composite, and industry-education integrated pathway. Professor Ji Yushan delivered a plenary report titled “Causes, Characteristics, Operational Laws, and Development Strategies of AI Agent Economy.” He stated that AI agents represent an advanced form of the digital economy, exhibiting distinct characteristics and operational laws, requiring multi-dimensional responses spanning technology, ethics, and institutions—and reconstruction of economic theory. Professor Tang Lizhi delivered a plenary report titled “Digital Transformation and Resilience of China-ASEAN Supply Chains.” He pointed out that digitalization significantly enhances resilience in China-ASEAN supply chains, yet inconsistencies in standards remain; cross-border digital coordination must be advanced to address existing gaps.

Professor Xie Weihong delivered a plenary report titled “Practical Issues and Reflections on AI’s Role in Promoting Industrial Development.” She emphasized that AI has entered an era of industrial integration, yet bottlenecks persist in data, equipment, mechanisms, and governance; systemic transformation is required to achieve deep integration with the real economy. Professor Ning Lianju delivered a plenary report titled “Paths to Business Innovation for Enterprises in the Era of Intelligent Economy.” He stated that the intelligent economy disrupts traditional industrial and commercial logics; enterprises must innovate with science-and-technology entrepreneurship mindsets, while universities must reconstruct knowledge systems to cultivate science-and-technology entrepreneurial business talents. Professor Bai Jingkun delivered a plenary report titled “Digital-Intelligent Technologies and High-Quality Development of Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative SMEs.” He pointed out that digital-intelligent technologies empower specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative SMEs across four dimensions—specialization, refinement, distinctiveness, and innovation—with especially pronounced effects for small enterprises. Associate Professor Chen Xiaoxin delivered a plenary report titled “Research on Building a New Offshore Trade Financial Services System for the Hainan Free Trade Port.” She emphasized that EF accounts in the Hainan Free Trade Port are developing rapidly, yet the offshore trade financial system still has shortcomings; account optimization, product innovation, regulatory improvement, and ecosystem enhancement are all needed.