Factbox: China witnesses remarkable progress in data sector in 14th Five-Year Plan period

BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's data sector has seen significant growth during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with notable strides made in market size and digital infrastructure.

At a press conference held in Beijing on Thursday, Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, highlighted some key achievements in the sector during the period.

The sector's scale reached 5.86 trillion yuan (about 821.45 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2024, up 117 percent from the end of 2020, while the number of data-related enterprises in China had exceeded 400,000 by the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, China's digital infrastructure has achieved significant progress, leading globally in scale and technological advancement.

By the end of June 2025, the country had built 4.55 million 5G base stations, and the number of gigabit broadband users had reached 226 million.

Years of research have yielded key technological advances in the sector. China has established a complete integrated circuit industrial chain, and its homegrown operating systems like HarmonyOS are rapidly gaining ground, which now serves as the "smart core" for over 1,200 product categories.

The AI sector has seen comprehensive advancement as well, with China accounting for 60 percent of global AI patents and achieving breakthroughs in humanoid robots and intelligent hardware.

China's computational power now ranks second in the world, providing robust support for economic and social development.

The country has seen closer integration of digital tech with the real economy during the period. By the end of 2024, software revenue surged 80 percent compared to 2020, while value-added output in large-scale electronic manufacturing rose over 70 percent.

Over 10,000 smart factories have been built, covering 80 percent of key manufacturing sectors and driving demand for smart homes and wearables.

Looking ahead, China will make more achievements in the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), empowering economic and social growth with data-driven solutions for the benefit of the people, Liu said. ■