China aims to increase the share of the digital economy in its gross domestic product by 2025, driven by next-generation technologies such as 6G internet and big data.
The ambition highlights China's push to advance new technology as rivalry with the US continues in areas ranging from semiconductors to artificial intelligence.
In a document released last week, China's State Council, the country's top executive body, said that the "core industries of the digital economy" will account for 10% of its GDP by 2025, up from 7.8% in 2020.
The goals are part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, a development plan that runs from 2021 to 2025. Last year, China highlighted "frontier technology" areas for which it will boost research and aim for self-sufficiency. The last Council of State The document also gives more specific objectives for the coming years.
For example, China is targeting domestic online retail sales to rise from 11.76 trillion yuan in 2020 to 17 trillion yuan in 2025. It expects the information technology and software industry to rise from 8.16 trillion yuan. yuan in 2020 to 14 trillion yuan in 2025.
China anticipates that users of gigabit broadband, the current fastest internet connection speed, will increase from 6.4 million in 2020 to 60 million in 2025.
Indeed, increasing internet connections and speeds is part of China's strategy to increase the digital economy's share of GDP.