Quoting People's Daily: Digital trade is an important component of the digital economy and has become a new trend in international trade development and a new growth point for the economy.   In 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export reached 2.63 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.8%. There are over 120000 related enterprises in 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and the service network covers more than 200 countries and regions. The potential and advantages continue to be released, making positive contributions to China's stable foreign trade. As a new form of trade and economic form, digital trade has increasingly become a new frontier for international trade development and a new battlefield for global economic and trade rules. At the same time, the current global economic growth is weak, unilateralism and protectionism are growing, the international economic cooperation and competition situation are undergoing profound changes, the global economic governance system and rules are facing significant adjustments, and the reform, innovation and development of digital trade are facing many challenges. Faced with the complex and ever-changing international situation, China has always adhered unwaveringly to opening up to the outside world, firmly maintained the rules based multilateral trading system, actively developed digital trade, and better released the dividends of the digital economy, injecting confidence into the international community's continuous deepening of cooperation and joint development. At present, we need to further promote the reform and innovative development of digital trade, target the opportunities and challenges of digital trade development, make up for shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses, break through bottlenecks, and leverage advantages, in order to shape new driving forces and advantages for foreign trade development, accelerate the construction of a digital China and a strong trading nation, and make greater contributions.

The country strongly supports the reform, innovation and development of digital trade

According to Xinhua News Agency, on August 17, 2024, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued opinions on the reform, innovation, and development of digital trade. Pointing out that digital trade is an important component of the digital economy and has become a new trend in international trade development and a new growth point for the economy. Supporting the development of segmented fields and business entities in digital trade is mainly reflected in:

（1） Actively develop digital product trade. Strengthen innovation in digital application scenarios and models, improve the quality and level of digital content production, cultivate and expand cross-border digital delivery channels, and enhance international competitiveness.

（2） Continuously optimize digital service trade. Promote the innovative development of digital service trade, including digital finance, online education, remote healthcare, and digital delivery of professional services, and enhance brand and standard influence. Develop new forms and models of service outsourcing such as cloud outsourcing and platform subcontracting, and promote the accelerated digital transformation of service outsourcing.

（3） Vigorously develop digital technology trade. Strengthen innovation in key core technologies, accelerate the development of foreign trade in fields such as communication, Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and satellite navigation.

（4） Promote the high-quality development of digital ordering trade. Encourage various entities such as e-commerce platforms, operators, and supporting service providers to grow and strengthen, and accelerate brand building. Promote the construction of comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce and support the development of "cross-border e-commerce+industrial belts". Promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade in the digital field.

（5） Cultivate and strengthen digital trade operators. Cultivate a group of leading digital trade enterprises with strong innovation capabilities and influence. Actively cultivate small and medium-sized digital trade enterprises with high extraversion and unique competitive advantages. Build a good ecosystem for mutual promotion and coordinated development among large, medium, and small enterprises, and create a digital industry cluster with international competitiveness. Support the orderly development of digital platform enterprises and play an active role in leading development, creating employment, and international competition.

Fill the technological gap in China's cross-border digital trade

Optimize top-level design and further improve the rule system. At present, there is no unified digital trade law in China, and various provisions of digital trade are scattered in different laws. In addition, policy support also tends to be fragmented and generalized to a certain extent, and the rule system for promoting the development of digital trade needs to be further improved. Especially in terms of technological support, China urgently needs to solve the problem of digital trade being choked by other countries. The technology used in digital trade, especially the core technology, must be domestically independent intellectual property rights and fully controllable core technology to ensure the successful application and security of China's digital trade, especially cross-border digital trade.

On July 8, 2025, a news triggered high attention in the global digital trade field - the "Design Scheme and Practice of a General Model for Cross border Digital Trade Services Based on the Law of Digital Energy Conversion" jointly developed by Chang'an University, Yan'an Digital Trade Cross border Service Center, and Xi'an Huayuan Group Co., Ltd. was evaluated by a dual academician expert group organized by the China International Association for the Promotion of Science and Technology and recognized as "the overall technology has reached the international advanced level, among which the 'dumbbell mode' and the China Mongolia livestock industry professional practice model have reached the international leading level". This evaluation not only marks China's leap from following to leading in the field of cross-border digital trade, but also signifies a new Chinese solution for the global digital trade rules system.

Digital trade, as the core form of trade in the digital economy era, has become a new engine for global economic growth. The National Opinion on the Reform, Innovation and Development of Digital Trade clearly states that the proportion of digital service trade needs to be increased to over 45% by 2029. However, the security and regulatory balance of cross-border data flow, as well as the insufficient discourse power of international rules, have always been obstacles to the development of digital trade in China.

Since January 2017, the project team has gone through 8 years of arduous research and development, building a complete cross-border digital trade service system based on digital and data science, the law of digital energy conversion, and data space theory. This scheme not only fills in the gaps in relevant fields in China, but also is an international initiative. Its innovative value has been recognized by many authorities: the research on the Clearing System of Cross border Digital Trade Services in China Mongolia Animal Husbandry carried out by the National Development and Reform Commission's International Cooperation Center was highly praised by the State Council Research Center, the China National Intellectual Property Administration and other 10 ministries and commissions' expert review teams for "strong innovation and advance"; In 2024, it won the "Data Element x Shaanxi Region - Most Promising Innovation Award" organized by the National Data Bureau, and the "Law and Practice of Digital Energy Conversion" won the gold medal at the 49th Geneva Invention Exhibition, marking the international recognition of China's original digital trade theory.

The core value of this plan lies in the construction of a new cross-border digital trade market - driven by data elements, supported by the value of China's entire industry data, supported by Mongolian industrial parks as spatial carriers, and guaranteed by a digital credit service system. This model will transform the current cross-border trade of capital denominated in US dollars into cross-border circulation of digital assets denominated in RMB, injecting new momentum into international cooperation. According to China's industrial data model, the cross-border digital trade service market for animal husbandry between China and Mongolia alone can reach a scale of billions to trillions, and the promotion and application of universal models will further leverage the trillion level market.

Core achievements: "One model, two major models, three major constructions"

The breakthrough achievements of the project are reflected in "one model, two major models, and three major constructions", fundamentally reshaping the underlying logic of cross-border trade.

（1） Dumbbell Mode: Reconstructing a New Paradigm for Cross border Trade Cooperation

Based on the theory of digital and data science, the project team has innovatively constructed a "dumbbell model" for cross-border digital trade services. This model adopts the strategy of digital intelligence, low cost and systematization, and integrates resources in the way of "building ships" in China to jointly "go global"; Build a digital industrial park on the cooperation side, and achieve linkage through cross-border cooperation in production capacity and property rights.

The core advantage of this model lies in "equal rights" - breaking down the differences in political, cultural, and economic systems among different countries and conforming to the trend of digital era development. Compared with traditional cross-border trade, the "dumbbell model" has completely changed the drawbacks of traditional investment and trade of the "the Belt and Road". Through cross-border digital property rights trade and data circulation, international cooperation will be more efficient, fair and win-win under sovereign equality.

（2） Two major models: closed-loop from general framework to professional practice

Based on the law of numerical energy conversion and the multiplier effect of data value, the project has constructed two core models, forming a complete closed loop from theory to practice.

The universal model for cross-border digital trade services has strong universality and can be replicated and promoted to any country, industry, field, and project worldwide. Whether it is the transfer of high-tech or the output of high-quality production capacity, this model can be used to digitize property rights trade with the target country's anchoring materials, achieving fair and just win-win cooperation, and is expected to create a trillion dollar scale market.

The practice model of cross-border digital trade services in animal husbandry between China and Mongolia is the "experimental field" of the universal model. This model fully utilizes Mongolia's abundant livestock resources and 33.8 square kilometers of land resource data space authorized by the Mongolian government to form a verifiable and scalable professional practice plan. This model not only completely changed the traditional way of global cross-border livestock trade, but also created a market scale of hundreds of billions to trillions, and also formed the beginning of establishing a new international order of digital cross-border trade and services.

（3） Three major constructions: breaking through the obstruction of the entire cross-border trade chain

The three major constructions of "digital cross-border", "digital trade", and "digital services" have solved the chain obstruction of cross-border trade from different dimensions.

Digital cross-border "utilizes digital intelligence technology and data flow to achieve effective connections between different countries' politics and cultures, breaking down the" barriers "of investment and trade, and enabling cross-border cooperation to no longer be limited by geography, systems, culture, and settlement of foreign exchange.

Digital trade utilizes data space to complete the conversion of property rights and variable rights between digital intelligence production capacity and data assets, forming a cross-border property rights cooperation and trade mechanism. This construction enables both intangible data assets and tangible production capacity resources to achieve cross-border circulation, greatly expanding trade boundaries.

Digital services "rely on blockchain, Web3.0, and big data technologies to develop the GEDIS (Cross border Electronic Data and Information Exchange System) cross-border digital trade service platform. This platform realizes the unity of Web3.0 and ERP digital production chain, extending the efficiency of Industry 4.0 to the field of cross-border trade, and building a new international order of cross-border digital trade services in the ecosystem of "number, domain, and energy".

Figure 1 Trusted Industry Collaboration Network for Cross border Digital Trade Services

Breakthrough move: solving three core problems

In response to the pain points in the development of digital trade in our country, the project plan systematically solves three core problems and clears obstacles for the industry's development.

（1） Break through the bottleneck of investment and trade of the "the Belt and Road"

In the practice of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, China is faced with problems such as investment and trade difficulties, insufficient autonomy and controllability of settlement and pricing. The project plan fundamentally solves this problem by constructing a digital asset cross-border circulation system denominated in RMB. By utilizing the law of numerical energy conversion and the trustworthy data space, we have achieved autonomous and controllable cross-border trade settlement, allowing Chinese enterprises to have more initiative in international cooperation.

（2） Resolve the conflict between tradition and the digital age

There are three contradictions between traditional cross-border trade and the development of the digital age: the finite nature of the physical world and the infinite nature of the data world, the exclusivity of traditional industries and the shared value appreciation of the data industry, and the "barrier" nature of traditional trade and the "equal rights" nature of cross-border digital trade.

The plan utilizes the multiplier effect of data value to compensate for the limitations of the physical world with the infinite nature of the data world; Breaking the closed barriers of traditional industries with the shared value-added characteristics of the data industry; Dismantle "barriers" through digital equality and make cross-border trade more inclusive. These innovations fundamentally resolve the contradictions of the times, pave the way for the development of digital trade, and build a new type of international political economy relationship.

（3） Enhance international discourse power and rule making power

The significance of the project also lies in enhancing China's international status and discourse power in the field of cross-border digital trade. By using the dynamic system of the law of numerical energy conversion, a new quality of productivity for cross-border digital trade services is constructed, forming an independent and controllable multilateral cross-border digital trade service system denominated in RMB. This Chinese plan has not only become a "key tool" for the development of cross-border digital economy, but also helps China transform from a "participant" in global trade rules to a "maker", and build the international status of China's Yan'an as a maker of cross-border digital trade service rules.

Trust System and Channel Design: Building Digital Trade 'Infrastructure'

The core challenge of cross-border trade has always been the trust issue of "how money goes out and how it comes back". The project plan aims to reshape the cross-border digital trust system and channel design, and build a brand new trust infrastructure.

（1） Trinity collaborative ecosystem

The plan is centered around CID (Asset Anchored Entity Ownership) and DID (Financial Through Revenue Transfer), and utilizes three consensus mechanisms: certification, production and storage, and settlement and account sharing to establish a direct connection channel from the asset end to the financial end, and build a three in one collaborative ecosystem of "data certification process collaboration value flow".

This ecosystem has achieved a complete closed-loop of "digitalization of physical assets on the chain → standardized splitting of on chain rights → real-time settlement of cross-border transactions". Compared with traditional models, its advantages are significant: replacing centralized guarantee systems with distributed consensus, reducing trust costs; Eliminating multi-layered intermediary barriers, CID certification to digital rights encapsulation only requires 3 steps, significantly improving efficiency; Prevent and control the risk of "black swan events" from the source through data verification and process interlocking.

（2） GEDIS System: The Core Carrier of Trusted Industry Collaborative Network

Based on the CID/DID dual track identification system of GEDIS system, the project has built a trusted industry collaboration network, implementing the design concept of "one channel, two centers, and three mechanisms". Both parties have reached a consensus on the "six core standards" and implemented a "six dimensional subject integration mechanism" through the GEDIS consensus center, forming a closed-loop system of "data exchange, process mutual trust, and value sharing" for cross-border collaboration ecology in terms of "quantity, domain, and capability".

The system is based on data interoperability to achieve full chain information sharing, with rule driven smart contracts to ensure mutual trust in cross subject processes. Value sharing is achieved through CID physical asset anchoring and DID revenue rights transfer. This ecosystem ensures that all aspects of cross-border trade are in a trustworthy state, fundamentally solving the problem of information asymmetry.

（3） Three layer system and three link coupling: ensuring full link security and controllability

The project has designed a cross-border management closed system consisting of three layers of systems, including a cross-border practical layer, a clearing and distribution mechanism, and a big data warning mechanism, integrating the "three ends" (production end, service end, financial end) and the "three chains" (production chain, service chain, settlement chain) into an organic whole.

Based on the CID/DID dual identification system and standardized rule interface, the system realizes the trusted coupling of the service chain, production chain, and settlement chain, and constructs a three in one ecosystem of "market finance regulation". This design achieves "triple penetration": breaking down industry barriers, eliminating geographical restrictions, and penetrating information barriers; Promote regulatory upgrading, achieve full chain auditability, traceability, and dispute arbitration through multi currency collaborative clearing; Promote efficiency transition and drive the transformation of the China Mongolia industrial supply chain from traditional collaboration to a digital service trade complex.

Figure 2: Rules for the number, domain, and energy of a closed energy system

The Law of Numerical Conversion: The Core Driving Force Behind Innovation

The theoretical basis for all innovations in the project is the law of number energy conversion. This law has achieved the unity of the physical world and the data world through the discovery and invention of "number, domain, and energy", providing important theoretical support for cross-border digital trade service models.

The dynamic system of the law of number energy conversion is reflected in cross-border digital trade as the interaction between data production factors and new quality productivity: through the continuous value appreciation of data space and trustworthy value data, a "data value multiplier effect" is generated; This multiplier effect continues to extend through the Huayuan Chain, driving exponential growth in cross-border social, technological, and economic efficiency, ultimately forming a market size of billions to trillions for the China Mongolia livestock industry and trillions for the universal model.

From 'everything counts' to' everything can count ', the law of number energy conversion respects the' first principles' of digital and data science, solves the contradiction between the exclusivity of traditional industries and the shared value-added of data industries, breaks through the limitations of the physical world with the infinite nature of the data world, and injects lasting momentum into cross-border digital trade.

Future Outlook: From Technological Breakthroughs to Global Practices

With the in-depth development of the globalization of the digital economy, the project team will further implement the national "the Belt and Road" initiative, the new development pattern of "double circulation" and the innovative development strategy of digital trade, and accelerate the transformation of achievements by relying on the relevant research topics and technical evaluation results of the National Development and Reform Commission's International Cooperation Center.

The core goal is to build a "middleware" for cross-border digital trade settlement and distribution system, achieve the binding of DID and CID, and enable digital products of physical assets (RWA) to run on Huayuan Chain, completing the entire process from technology transformation, rule formulation to scenario implementation. This process is not only the promotion of technology, but also the global practice of Chinese rules and standards.

It can be foreseen that with the implementation and promotion of the project, a new cross-border market driven by data, supported by RMB, and characterized by digitization will accelerate its formation. This is not only a reform of trade patterns, but also will promote the healthy development of the "dual circulation" of the global digital economy, inject Chinese wisdom and solutions into world trade, and help build a more fair, just, and win-win new global trade order. (The first author is from Chang'an University Digital and Data Science Center and Yan'an Digital Trade Cross border Service Center; the second author is from Yan'an Digital Trade Cross border Service Center and Xi'an Huayuan Group Co., Ltd.)