The fourth Global Digital Trade Expo closed on Monday, standing as a window for global investors to learn about Zhejiang province's effort to cultivate the digital economy and free trade of such products.

By implementing a range of policies, the provincial government has been promoting the deep integration of digital tools and free trade, creating a digital economy ecosystem, local officials said.

In the construction of the digital free trade zone, the Zhejiang provincial government demonstrated how to perform institutional innovation. The construction plan for the Hangzhou Sector of the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone was proposed on Aug 30, 2020. After five years, this strategy has achieved fruitful results.

Currently, the zone has cumulatively created 458 institutional innovation achievements in the digital field, 122 of which are national firsts.

Artificial intelligence, as a high-tech industry, is a key driving force behind the development of the digital economy. Zhejiang places great emphasis on fostering the AI industry by providing policy support and resource integration, creating a favorable ecosystem for the growth of AI enterprises.

Unitree Robotics, a globally renowned civilian robotics company based in Hangzhou, focuses on the development and production of high-performance general-purpose robots for consumer and industrial-class applications. The company is involved in comprehensive fields such as core robotic components, motion control, robotic perception and decision-making, and robotic AI.

Unitree's products perform excellently not only in the domestic market but are also exported worldwide, making it a representative enterprise in China's AI and robotics industry.

Chen Jiaxin, market manager of Unitree Robotics, said at the expo: "Our quadruped robots account for 60-70 percent of global shipments, and our large-sized general-purpose humanoid robots lead global shipment volumes, with our business covering more than 50 percent of countries and regions worldwide."

Another standout enterprise is BrainCo, which is involved in noninvasive brain-computer interface technology. BrainCo's intelligent bionic hand assisted athletes in completing the torch relay at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics and has received US Food and Drug Administration approval. The company is now establishing itself as a benchmark enterprise in the global brain-computer interface field.

In the journey of developing AI, going global is an essential path. Currently, Zhejiang is facilitating this through a series of policies, such as aiding cross-border e-commerce retail imports and exports, and implementing a negative list for data outbound transfers. These measures provide support for the internationalization of high-tech industries. Additionally, Zhejiang has established multiple international platforms such as the China Center for Cooperation on Special Economic Zones in BRICS Countries, bridging the gap for enterprises to explore global markets.