China's electronic information industry saw robust growth in the first quarter despite the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on industries.

Employees work to meet an export order at a workshop of Sichuan Sovi Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd. at Jingyang Hi-tech Industrial Park, Deyang, southwest China's Sichuan province. (Photo/People's Daily)

Over 80 percent of the country's electronic information enterprises above designated size resumed work in mid-March, including over 90 percent of the country’s electronic circuit companies, according to statistics released by the China Information Technology Industry Federation (CITIF).

In Q1, output of electronic components and integrated circuit products increased by 16 percent and 13.1 percent year on year, respectively, against the backdrop of added value in large-scale industrial enterprises seeing a year-on-year decline. Electronic equipment manufacturing grew 9.9 percent in March.

Wu Qiang, vice president of Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO, said the company's online sales of smartphones surged by about 40 percent from a year ago in Q1.

According to Wu, on Feb. 10 the company restarted a dozen smartphone production lines in its industrial park to return to production capacity as soon as possible.

"Our work resumption rate reached over 95 percent, in large part thanks to intelligent transformation," Wu said, noting that almost all of the company's production lines and about 40 percent of its general assembly lines are now automated.

OPPO is a typical example of how China's electronic information enterprises have accelerated production resumption through intelligent transformation.

Dong Yunting, a senior expert at CITIF, said the electronic information industry's work resumption rate is much higher than that of other industries, as it enjoys a relatively high level of automation, digitalization, and intelligence.

In addition, some electronic information enterprises have also launched new products to counter the epidemic's impact.

Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co., Ltd. developed a series of electronic devices for contactless temperature measurement to meet market demand during the epidemic control period in late January, said Wang Jianzeng, general manager of the company.

According to Wang, the revenue from the marketable devices had exceeded 200 million yuan by the end of March, accounting for about one-third of the company's total revenue in Q1.

China's leading enterprise in artificial intelligence (AI) iFlytek Co., Ltd. rolled out a smart conference system, providing video conferences, voice transcription and speech translation services for customers. "Our AI-based products and services saw rapid expansion despite the epidemic," said Wu Dehai, Party chief of the company, adding that its inked contracts surged by 91 percent from a year ago in March.

Dong pointed out that the sector's growth can be attributed to intelligent manufacturing and industrial Internet, which guaranteed normal operations of equipment, as well as the integration with business models, especially the digital economy, creating new areas of growth for companies in the sector.

According to Dong, the electronic information industry's output returned to normal levels in April, and the sector is expected to see stable development in the second quarter.