Abstract: Digitalization is a critical factor in the modernization of traditional industries,but there is still a lack of quantitative assessment of the current level of digitalization in China's universal enterprises in academia.Specifically,it is unclear whether Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),which account for 90% of registered firms and 80% of urban employees,have adopted any digital technologies.The paper titled ‘Stylized Facts about Digitalization Processes of Chinese Enterprises—Evidence from the Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China' aims to answer the question of which digital technologies Chinese enterprises adopt and how these technologies impact their business.It also aims to explore why some firms choose to conduct digital transformation while others do not.The study is based on the Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China (ESIEC) conducted by the Peking University's Center for Enterprise Research.The Center for Enterprise Research designed the ESIEC 2023 questionnaire to collect information on the use of various digital technologies by sample enterprises.The questionnaire was informed by academic literature and surveys conducted in Europe and the United States.The collected results can be categorized into the following four types of digital technologies:① The term ‘Internet’ refers to various online platforms such as e-commerce,self-owned websites,and apps that are primarily used for external operations.② ‘Digital management’pertains to electronic data storage and professional business software that are primarily used for internal management. ③ The‘Online business division’ includes cloud services and internet outsourcing.④ ‘Digital machines’refer to CNC machine tools and industrial robots that are primarily used in manufacturing enterprises.ESIEC 2023 collects micro-survey data at the enterprise level through stratified sampling and interviewer field surveys.The sample includes all registered companies and individual households in the past six years in six provinces and cities:Liaoning,Shanghai,Zhejiang,Henan,Guangdong,and Gansu.

In this paper,we first estimate the digitalization process of new private enterprises of different industries and sizes by calculating the enterprise adoption ratios and employee penetration of four digital technologies.We summarize the stylized facts of the current digitalization process of Chinese enterprises from multiple perspectives,by comparing the differences in terms of enterprise type,regional distribution,and industry distribution.We comprehensively examine the level of digital transformation of Chinese enterprises through international comparisons using surveys conducted in Europe and the United States.Additionally,we explore the factors that influence enterprise digital transformation.

The paper's findings reveal that the digitalization of Chinese enterprises is rapidly developing and has a profound impact on the labor market.Specifically,61% of Chinese firms have adopted at least one of the digital technologies in Internet use,digital management,Internet outsourcing,and digital machines,affecting 85% of the employed population.However,there is significant heterogeneity among the different digital technologies.Among corporate companies,approximately 64% have adopted electronic data preservation.The adoption rate of digital management software,Internet platform operation and e-commerce sales is about 35%,and the adoption rate of cloud services,self-hosted websites and applications,and industrial robots is about 10%.Third,there are regional differences in the digitization process of enterprises.Zhejiang Province has the highest digital technology penetration among the six provinces,affecting 93% of the employed population,while Liaoning and Henan Province has the lowest digital technology penetration among the six provinces,but still reaches over 80%.Fourth,there are differences in the digitalization process of enterprises across industries.Business services have the highest digital technology penetration,affecting 91% of the employed population,followed by industry at 86%,residential services,and agriculture with the lowest.Fifth,in general,Chinese enterprises are still lagging behind European and American countries in terms of digital transformation.Chinese enterprises have a lower adoption ratio (39%) in Internet platform operation compared to European enterprises (59%).However,they have a developmental advantage in the adoption of e-commerce and short-video platforms.Additionally,the adoption ratio of Chinese enterprises in digital management is only half of that of U.S.and European enterprises.Sixth,this paper highlights that enterprise digital transformation is influenced by sizes,ages,and wage.Specifically,companies that have larger sizes,smaller ages,and higher wages are more likely to implement digital transformation.

This paper has the following outstanding features:First,objectivity,this paper's metrics for enterprise digital transformation are based on specific digital technology adoption in micro-survey data.The constructed indicators objectively reflect the real situation of enterprise digitization.Second,multidimensionality,this paper utilizes research questionnaires from Europe and the United States to refine four specific technologies:Internet use,digital management,online business division of labor,and digital machines and other digital technologies.Third,representativeness,this paper uses ESIEC 2023 data sampled based on the business registration database of enterprises,and the research object covers enterprises of different industries and sizes.Fourth,timeliness,this paper analyzes the digital transformation of the newly built enterprises in the last six years in 2022,which can reflect the latest situation of the digitalization of China's industries.