Virtuality or reality is not important, promoting economic development is king

Recently, various opinions have emerged on the debate between the "real economy" and the "virtual economy". Regarding the Internet economy, especially e-commerce, some entrepreneurs claim that as a virtual economy, they have severely impacted the real economy.

On January 7, the first State Council executive meeting in 2017 set the tone and gave an answer to the "virtual vs. real" debate. The meeting pointed out that we should correctly understand the connotation of "real economy": "real economy" is a concept relative to "virtual economy", not just manufacturing, but covering the first, second and third industries. "Online stores are the 'new economy', but they directly drive the sales of physical factories; the express delivery industry, as a representative of the 'new economy', also drives consumption and promotes production. These typical new economic industries are actually 'productive service industries', serving the real economy and are also part of the real economy."

In fact, the virtual economy is not a "devil" and the real economy is not an "angel". The reason why there is a "dispute between the virtual and the real" is just an artificial separation. Whether it is the so-called real economy or the virtual economy, it depends on whether it can be done "real", done steadily, done seriously, and done step by step. If it is done "real" and "stable", any virtual economy can become a real economy. Conversely, if it is done "virtually", the real economy will also be virtual.

On January 6, Alibaba released the full annual data for 2016, showing that the entire Alibaba Group and Ant Group paid a total of 23.8 billion in taxes in 2016, with an average tax payment of nearly 100 million per working day, driving the platform to pay at least 200 billion in taxes and creating 30 million jobs. These figures show that the real economy and the Internet economy are not diametrically opposed, but are mutually integrated and mutually reinforcing. The Internet economy can even give traditional manufacturing a boost.

Therefore, the new economy and new business models will not have a restraining effect on the manufacturing industry, but on the contrary will promote its development. The key lies in whether there is a market for the manufacturing industry's products, and this market cannot be occupied by the financial industry and capital markets.

The Central Economic Work Conference held not long ago brought "good news" to the development of the real economy. The conference pointed out that "vigorously revitalizing the real economy and cultivating and expanding new economic momentum" should be deployed as an important task for economic work in 2017. To revitalize the real economy, we must first improve product quality, second, create brands, and third, innovate. The innovation mentioned here includes both the transformation of the real industry through Internet technology and the opening of sales through online e-commerce.

As the Chinese economy and even the global economy are increasingly integrated, the idea of ​​simply and crudely dividing the economy into virtual and real is outdated. The debate between virtual and real is no longer important, and what can promote China's economic development is the kingly way.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.