A child watches cloud video footage using virtual reality technology at the Light of Internet Expo, part of the World Internet Conference－Internet Development Forum, in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, in November. ZHAI HUIYONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

The General Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Government recently released an action plan (2020-2022) to use digital technology in the development of new business models in the province.

The digitalization advocated by the action plan is expected to create over one million jobs in the province by 2022.

According to the plan, local authorities in Zhejiang are required to help Zhejiang manufacturers make use of cloud computing, industrial internet of things, artificial intelligence, and 5G communications, as well as to spur the development of online education, telecommuting, telemedicine, autonomous driving, contactless services, internet plus tourism, e-commerce, fintech, and digital governance.

The plan lays out a number of concrete targets for the province to reach by 2022.

For example, it plans to cultivate 400 benchmark enterprises for integration with cloud services, 20 workshops capable of "shared manufacturing", 30 "factories of the future", 30 smart tourist attractions, and 250 digital agriculture plants within the next few years.

In addition, the province's total online retail sales are expected to reach 2.6 trillion yuan ($397.8 billion) by 2022, while its cross-border online retail exports are expected to reach a value of 140 billion yuan.

Also, 90 percent of Zhejiang's permanent population is expected to use mobile payment by 2022.