China's digital economy sees continued growth

China's digital economy maintained rapid growth during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), with an annual average growth of more than 16.6 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

MIIT data also showed that the value-added of core industries in the country's digital economy accounted for 7.8 percent of the country’s GDP as of the end of 2020, with the industry growing still further in its vitality.

A volunteer guides villagers to scan a QR code with their smartphones and use a mini program on the social platform WeChat to follow and supervise village affairs at Heqiao town, Lin'an district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province. (Photo/Xinhua)

The nation has stepped up efforts to promote the development of its digital economy in recent years, providing strong support for the building of a Digital China, said Yang Yuyan, an official with the ministry.

China has laid a solid foundation for the development of related industries. It has built the world's largest fiber-optic and 4G networks, with 5G terminal connections already exceeding 200 million. The country has witnessed the rapid development of its software and information technology service industry, electronic information manufacturing sector, and telecommunications service industry. The software sector alone posted an annual revenue of 8.16 trillion yuan ($1.25 trillion) last year, up 13.3 percent year on year.

China has also accelerated digital transformation while promoting the development of the industrial internet. The country is home to over 80 industrial internet platforms with more than 350,000 industrial apps, providing strong support for cost reductions and efficiency improvements in a variety of industries.

China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have actively participated in digital transformation and have achieved positive progress, said Gou Ping, an official from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Gou said SOEs have played a key role in the construction of new infrastructure, including 5G, big data centers, and the industrial internet. Over 80 centrally-controlled SOEs have built group-level data centers and more than 60 industrial internet platforms.

China will promote the rapid growth of its digital economy and strengthen innovative applications of key digital technologies in the future, according to Sun Wei, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission.

The country will also accelerate digital industrialization and industrial digitization and improve its digital governance systems and digital services, Sun added.