China’s Digital Economy Hits US $7.1 trln

China’s digital economy reached US $7.1 trillion in 2021, accounting for over 18 percent of the total value of the sector in 47 major countries around the world, according to a white paper on global digital economy issued by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

China’s digital economy ranks second after the U.S., said the white paper.

For China, digital economy is a key force in driving the country’s economic development. The white paper showed that from 2012 to 2021, the average growth rate of China’s digital economy was 15.9 percent, and the share of digital economy in GDP increased from 20.9 percent to 39.8 percent. Besides, the overall input-output efficiency of the sector increased from 0.9 in 2002 to 2.8 in 2020.