Vehicles run at the Central Business District (CBD) in Chaoyang District in Beijing, capital of China, on June 6, 2022 (XINHUA)

In the wake of a fruitful year of achievements in many fields, Beijing Municipality has set economic targets for 2024, aiming for a year-on-year growth of approximately 5 percent in its regional gross domestic product (GDP), according to Beijing Mayor Yin Yong.

Highlighting the booming digital economy and vowing to spur consumption and improve the business environment, Yin delivered a government work report at the annual session of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress on January 21.

The Chinese capital's targeted economic indicators for 2024 also include maintaining the surveyed urban unemployment rate within 5 percent and ensuring the consumer price index (CPI) growth remains around 3 percent. Additionally, general public budget revenue is expected to increase by 5 percent year on year. Yin emphasized the city's commitment to keeping resident income growth in sync with overall economic expansion.

In 2023, Beijing's GDP soared to nearly 4.4 trillion yuan (about $618.26 billion), showcasing a robust year-on-year growth of 5.2 percent, read the government work report.

Among the major GDP contributors is the digital economy, contributing 42.9 percent to the regional GDP in 2023. "Beijing is striving to build itself into a global benchmark city for the digital economy," said Yin.

Official statistics unveiled during the legislative meeting highlighted Beijing's prowess in digital infrastructure development. The city erected 30,000 new 5G base stations in 2023, securing the top national spot with 49 5G base stations per ten thousand people.

Furthermore, 24 generative AI products became accessible to the public, representing nearly half of China's total. The high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone in Beijing, covering 160 square kilometers, facilitated the testing and deployment of 775 autonomous vehicles across eight scenarios.

In 2024, Beijing will accelerate the construction of a global benchmark for the digital economy, actively strategize in key sectors of the digital economy, and comprehensively transform production methods, lifestyles, and governance through digitization, Yin added.

"Beijing's digital industry continues to explore new frontiers, achieving a series of new accomplishments and breakthroughs, emerging as a crucial driving force supporting the city's economic growth," said Qu Ziheng, a senior executive of 58.com, one of China's major online marketplaces for classifieds, and a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

Beyond the digital realm, Beijing is poised to shift its focus from post-pandemic recovery to sustained expansion, with plans to boost consumption potential. As one of China's five pilot international consumption center cities, Beijing will deploy strategies such as the transformation of traditional business districts, the creation of international consumption experience zones, the stimulation of bulk consumption, and support for service consumption.

Data revealed that Beijing's total market consumption surged by 10.2 percent year on year in 2023, with total retail sales of consumer goods reaching 1.45 trillion yuan, marking a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase.

The continuous efforts to enhance policy effectiveness, unleash domestic demand potential, and boost confidence have resulted in a sustained recovery in Beijing's consumer market.

Retailers, such as the Hanguang Department Store, have played an important role by enhancing shopping environments and collaborating with financial institutions to offer competitive discounts.

"People are more inclined to resume offline activities after the pandemic," said Wang Xiaoyu, chairman of Hanguang and a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress. "In 2023, offline activities at the shopping center were much more vibrant than online activities."

Wang added that the shopping center rides on the city's initiative of promoting the integrated development of diverse business models and caters to consumers' needs for consumption with culture, sports, or leisure factors.

Meanwhile, Beijing plans to establish the "Beijing Service" brand to boost a business-friendly environment in 2024, said Yin when delivering the government work report.

Beijing will implement comprehensive measures to optimize the business environment and align with the World Bank's new framework to assess the business environment in 2024, aiming at creating a world-class business environment characterized by market orientation, rule of law, convenience, and internationalization.

The city will formulate standardized procedures for administrative licensing matters and deepen reforms, including "one integrated license" policy and "All-in-One-Go" government services.

It will also advance comprehensive supervision through integrated approaches, increase the proportion of non-onsite supervision, and enhance a pilot program on digital market supervision.

Beijing witnessed a 20.3 percent growth in newly established businesses in 2023, bringing the total number to over 2.11 million.