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Government agencies in Beijing will institute chief data officers, as the capital city aims to promote digital governance and accelerate the building of a benchmark city for the increasingly digitalized economy, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology said.

Initially, 13 government departments will take the lead in establishing the position of chief data officer, whose responsibility include boosting digital governance, strengthening data management, helping enhance digital supervision capability and develop digital talent, read an official statement.

Meanwhile, lower-level government agencies as well as enterprises are encouraged to appoint their own chief data officers.

The digital economy has become the most dynamic new growth driver and a new engine for high-quality development in Beijing, and the city has issued a series of policies and regulations to help boost the development of the digital economy.

A three-year work plan on promoting Beijing's digital economy by rule of law was unveiled in July, in a bid to help the capital meet its practical needs in managing data.

To advance the rapid growth of core technologies, the plan calls for courts to improve legal protection in major areas, including integrated circuits, critical software, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, by utilizing computer software, trade secrets and patents to meet the rising needs in those high-tech fields.

The added value of Beijing's digital economy reached 918.05 billion yuan ($127.5 billion) in the first half of 2023, up 8.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 44.5 percent of the city's GDP for the corresponding period, city officials said.