Five departments including the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Data Factor Disciplines and Majors and the Development of the Digital Talent Team, which outlines the blueprint for the cultivation of digital talents in China. Based on the spirit of the Opinions and grounded in China's policies, theories and practices regarding data factors, this paper focuses on elaborating three fundamental issues: the connotation, characteristics and types of digital talents. First, on the basis of sorting out the concepts of digital talents defined by the European Union and other entities, it proposes a definition of the connotation of digital talents in the context of data factors in the era of China's digital economy. Second, through an analysis of the characteristics of talent demand at different stages of social digital development, it summarizes four core characteristics of the competency requirements for digital talents in the digital economy era. Finally, it puts forward a "four-dimensional synergy" structure of digital talents and conducts an in-depth analysis of the four categories of digital talents required for the development of the digital economy.