Chinas Accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement: Assessing International and Domestic Prospects

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the real economy. In contrast, the era of the digital economy has come. The global digital economy and trade are booming and in the ascendant. In order to respond to the needs of the times, China formally applied to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) in 2021. China should strongly advocate joining DEPA because it will help China gain more international discourse power and establish a tripartite pattern of international digital economic and trade rules. At the same time, it can also bring economic and international trade opportunities for the digital transformation of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Nonetheless, China faces a potential challenge in its journey toward DEPA endorsement due to its unique digital regulation framework, which could pose obstacles when bridging its national digital ecosystem with the international digital sphere. This article introduces the background of the current era of digital economy and trade and expounds on the reasons why China should join the DEPA from the perspectives of establishing a strong international digital economy and trade rules and facilitating the digital transformation of Chinese SMEs and analyzes the difficulties and solutions of joining the agreement at the current stage.