The second Digital China Summit & Exhibition is currently underway in Fuzhou, Fujian province. [Photo by Xiang Wenjian/chinadaily.com.cn]

Fujian has leapfrogged in the development of digital economy in recent years, which now has emerged as an important engine driving its rapid economic growth.

In 2018, Fujian's digital economy recorded 1.42 trillion yuan, ranking it seventh among provinces nationwide, according to a recent report released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

The figure also indicated a year-on-year growth of 22.39 percent, the second fastest across the country, just following Guizhou province.

The digital techs such as the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence has accelerated integration with the real economy in Fujian, said Zhang Zhinan, executive vice governor of Fujian province. He made the remarks while addressing a sub-forum of the ongoing second Digital China Summit in Fuzhou on Tuesday, pointing out that the role of informatization in boost real economy growth is becoming increasingly evident.

Digital technology now has a presence in a wide range of fields in Fujian. E-governance is one such example, and has brought huge benefits to local residents.

According to You Mengjun, mayor of Fuzhou, the province's capital city is leading the nation in saving residents from red tape.

In March last year, Fuzhou launched a mobile app called "e-Fuzhou", which has enabled local residents to have almost all aspects of government services and approvals in daily life at their fingertips. To date, the platform has recorded 1.6 million registered users with 160,000 daily active ones.

Besides, the system of one window for all procedures, which allows international traders to submit all regulatory documents at a single location, also illustrates Fujian's great efforts in promoting digitalization.

Wu Nanxiang, head of the Fujian provincial department of commerce, said the system, which has been promoted nationwide, has greatly boosted trade facilitation, relieved businesses of onerous paperwork and slashed costs incurred in customs clearance.

In 2018, Fujian placed sixth in terms of comprehensive informatization levels in China while its internet penetration ranked fourth nationwide.

Further growth of the digital economy in the province is foreseeable as the ongoing second Digital China Summit has spawned a raft of opportunities. Around 40 digital economy projects were reached on the sidelines of the summit, with a total investment of 58.7 billion yuan ($8.76 billion). They include a Baidu AI project in Fuzhou and a JD.com digital economy industrial park in Putian.