Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a congratulatory letter to the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum on the Digital Economy Industry and Smart China Expo 2021 (SCE 2021).

Delivery of the Congratulatory Message of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China by Liu He, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Vice Premier of the State Council, PRC. (Photo/ Smart Roadshow News Center)

Hailing the rapid global development of the digital economy, the Chinese president noted that emerging technologies, industry forms, and platforms, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and smart cities, were profoundly influencing global technological innovation, industrial structural adjustments, and socioeconomic development.

In recent years, China has been actively pushing forward digital industrialization as well as digitization of the industries to integrate digital technologies with socioeconomic development, said Xi.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the SCO, the Chinese president stressed that China is ready to carry forward the "Shanghai Spirit" with other SCO member states.

China will strengthen international cooperation on the digital economy and let digitization, networking, and intelligentialization drive socioeconomic development and open up new avenues for collaboration on the digital economy, Xi said.

On Monday, the China-SCO Forum on the Digital Economy Industry and SCE 2021 began in China's Chongqing Municipality.