China's digital economy contributes more to GDP: report

Visitors interact with a robot at the International Digital Economy Expo 2018 in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 20, 2018. China's digital economy accounted for a bigger share of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year, with more room for further improvement, a report showed. The digital economy was estimated at 16 trillion yuan (2.32 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The CAICT said the figure was equivalent to 38.2 percent of GDP, up from the 32.9-percent ratio in 2017. In the face of looming downward pressures, China has resorted to an emerging, fast-growing digital economy for new growth momentum, which has prompted booming growth in areas including e-commerce and mobile payment, as well as technological innovation in traditional industries. (Xinhua/Zhan Xincheng)