Beijing has made significant progress in becoming a global benchmark city for the digital economy over the past five years, thanks to the "two zones" initiative, officials said at a press conference Monday.

The "two zones" initiative refers to Beijing's dual efforts to develop a pilot free trade zone and a national comprehensive demonstration zone for further opening up the service sector. The initiative has helped drive reform, foster a thriving digital industry ecosystem, and accelerate the application of cutting-edge technologies.

According to Liu Weiliang, spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the city has gained a competitive edge in frontier digital technologies. General-purpose AI models such as Doubao and Kimi have achieved strong global performance, placing Beijing among the top tier of global innovators. In brain-computer interface research, Beijing's Beinao-1 system successfully completed one of the world's first flexible, semi-invasive, fully implanted wireless human trials and has begun clinical validation. Meanwhile, the Tiangong robot made headlines by winning the world's first half-marathon title for humanoid robots.

With the world's largest and most advanced information and communication infrastructure, China has made great strides in digital connectivity, and Beijing is leading the way. The capital has built 143,900 5G base stations — ranking first in China in terms of density, with the highest number of stations per 10,000 people. With 16,000 5G-A base stations, Beijing has over 1,000 residential communities now capable of supporting 10-gigabit broadband access. 

The Beijing International Big Data Exchange has been central to the city's efforts in cultivating a high-quality data market. The exchange has seen rapid growth, with cumulative data transactions reaching 2,250 terabytes and an average annual growth rate of over 200% over the past three years. It has processed more than 100 million high-frequency data requests and introduced 567 high-quality datasets, of which 171 have already been traded. These include text, image, audio, and video formats, highlighting rising market demand, growing product diversity, and active participation.

Telecommunications has also seen broader opening to foreign investment. Wang Hui, deputy director of the Beijing Communications Administration, said that 10 foreign-invested enterprises have been approved for value-added telecom service trials in the city — accounting for 40% of the national total. These approvals cover services such as internet access, online data processing, and information services, and involve well-known multinational corporations with operations in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

According to Wang, these companies, many of which are local subsidiaries of global giants, are leveraging their international experience and advanced technologies to support Beijing's goals. Some offer high-quality network solutions to build platforms for clients across supply chains; some focus on sectors like aviation and automotive manufacturing, providing specialized data and IT services; and several others use their global expertise to support Beijing-based companies in going global, while emerging internet firms are helping diversify service options for local users.