Abstract:
Since the new infrastructure construction was proposed, the society, academia and government departments have experienced a gradual understanding to it. It is believed that "digital infrastructure" is the core of the new infrastructure. The new infrastructure has the "six new characteristics":new technologies, new heights, new areas, new models, new business formats, and new governance. There are the preconditions for the new infrastructure to "empower" the Chinese economy. The new infrastructure has three attributes, corresponding to three approaches to "empower" the high-quality development of China's economy:Firstly, as a fixed asset investment, its construction has a multiplier effect that can drive economic growth; and compared with traditional infrastructure, it can promote more "inclusive" growth of economy. Secondly, as a modern infrastructure, especially digital infrastructure, it can provide the underlying support for the digital transformation of economy. Thirdly, as a digital platform, it provides a new driving force to China's economic development, promotes the integrated development of industries, forms a new industrial ecology, and serves the construction of a modern industrial and economic system. Among them, the impacts of first approach are mainly short-termed, while the latter two have long-term effects. To effectively play the role of new infrastructure in promoting the digital transformation and high-quality development of China's economy, it is necessary to properly handle the four sorts of relationships between traditional infrastructure and new infrastructure, "construction" and "utilization", government and market, and innovation and governance.