Статья опубликована в сборнике материалов Международной научно-практической конференции «Russia 2020 – a new reality: economy and society».

The article is devoted to the study of the process of large-scale digitalization of the Chinese state, which has affected almost all spheres of the country's public life. Guided by exclusively pragmatic considerations, using vague legislation, the authorities of the People's Republic of China took the path of ousting foreign technology corporations from the Chinese market. The largest American (Western) platforms and business projects associated with them were blocked. In the absence of competition from their side, national Chinese platforms were created that took control of the republic's digital sphere. In parallel with the growth in the capitalization of Chinese digital platforms, systems of control over the population began to be created on their basis. First of all, a social rating system appeared. The law enforcement and judicial systems were gradually digitized. The rapid growth of China's digital economy, which is also dependent on the development of digital technologies, deserves special attention. Digital technologies played a positive role during the pandemic. Thanks to control systems, the use of artificial intelligence and “big data”, it was possible to take control of the movement of the population, to predict the development of the pandemic, and to develop effective methods to combat the coronavirus. Despite the successes achieved in the development of digital technologies, there is still a danger of building a society of total control in modern China in the absence of a mechanism for their legal regulation necessary for such digital systems. It is obvious that the legislator is not keeping pace with the development of technologies. But this "lag" is explained more by political rather than objective reasons. The emergence of the necessary legislation will prevent manual control of the digital sphere, which is not in the political interests of the ruling class.