The data released recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that in 2024, the digital industry will achieve a business revenue of 35 trillion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 5.5%; and a total profit of 2.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 3.5%. Experts believe that the new momentum and advantages of the digital industry will continue to accumulate, contributing more to stabilizing economic growth, nurturing new quality productive forces, and empowering various industries.
The main indicators maintain a stable rise.
Data show that in 2024, over 90% of the key monitored indicators in the digital industry achieved a year-on-year rise. The number of directly employed personnel in the digital industry reached 20.6 million, remaining basically stable compared to the previous year.
The Deputy Director of the Institute of Informationization and Software Industry of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Gao Yingmai, analyzed that for many years, from the central government to local governments, there has been a continuous and strong layout in key areas of the digital industry such as integrated circuits, communication equipment, and new displays. Through planning guidance, enterprise cultivation, industrial chain layout, and financial support, efforts have been made to safeguard the development of the digital industry. Key technologies in fields such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and autonomous driving are constantly breaking through and innovating, and through diversified business models and application landing, they promote the integration of industrial elements, extension of chains, fission of business forms, and reconstruction of value, creating more development space for the digital industry.
Zhao Gang, the director of the Institute of Industrial Research, believes that the expansion of overseas markets and investment in digital infrastructure have also driven the rise of the digital industry. The global demand for China’s digital products remains strong, leading to a year-on-year rise of 6.4% in the total import and export volume of the electronic information manufacturing industry in 2024. By the end of 2024, the total length of national optical cable lines will reach 72.88 million kilometers, with a total of 4.251 million 5G base stations built. The construction of digital infrastructure has not only driven the application of digital technology products but also provided efficient support for digital services, promoting the development of digital service industries such as the internet, cloud computing, and big data.
“As the digital transformation accelerates, the demand for digital technology across various industries is on the rise. The demand for digital services from multiple entities such as the government, enterprises, and individuals continues to climb, driving the ongoing expansion of the digital industry scale,” said Zhu Keli, Executive Director of the China Information Association and Founder of the National Research Institute for New Economy.
Artificial Intelligence Leads Industrial Upgrade
The enthusiasm for artificial intelligence continues to rise, and the global demand for data centers has also surged. Zhang Boyi, Deputy General Manager of the Overseas Marketing Department of Inspur Communication Information, told reporters that in the first two months of this year, the company’s overseas business revenue increased more than threefold compared to the same period last year. The data center business has become the “second curve” of the company’s overseas business growth.
At the beginning of this year, ByteDance released the Doubao large model 1.5, which has significantly enhanced its comprehensive capabilities compared to previous versions and has been widely applied in industries such as finance, retail, education, and automotive.
Artificial intelligence technology is leading the overall upgrade of industries, which is a major highlight of the current digital industry development. Zhao Gang stated that since the beginning of this year, foundational large models, inference models, intelligent agents, and embodied intelligence and other AI technologies have been iterating rapidly, continuously nurturing new business formats such as smart chips, smart hardware, smart software ecosystems, and model-as-a-service.
“The integration of ‘Artificial Intelligence+’ accelerates innovation in the digital industry, with AI chips, intelligent perception, advanced computing, future networks, data labeling and analysis, intelligent voice recognition, and other technologies and industries related to the development and application of artificial intelligence entering a new wave of innovation.” said Gao Yingmao.
Currently, the “dual重” and “dual新” policies are driving the recovery of global market demand, leading to a high level of investment and financing enthusiasm in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence. Positive progress has been made in artificial intelligence technology innovation, with the commercialization of large models accelerating. The integration and application of artificial intelligence in fields such as finance, government services, healthcare, and manufacturing are speeding up. “Artificial intelligence + smart hardware” has opened a new round of consumer space, and the shipment volume share of AI smartphones is rapidly increasing, injecting vitality into the development of the digital industry.
Key industries have fully rebounded and improved.
Data shows that in 2024, the electronic information manufacturing industry will fully rebound and improve. The added value of the computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries above a designated size will rise by 11.8%, an increase of 8.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. The consumer electronics market is fully recovering, driving the production of mobile phones, microcomputers, and color TVs in our country to rise by 7.8%, 2.7%, and 4.6% year-on-year, respectively. Driven by emerging businesses such as artificial intelligence and cloud platforms, the software industry achieved business revenue of 13.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 10%.
Zhao Gang analyzed that the highlights of the electronic information manufacturing industry are in integrated circuits and smart hardware. The highlight of the e-commerce service industry is in the live e-commerce sector. In 2024, China’s live e-commerce industry will maintain a rapid rise trend, driving the growth of emerging markets in e-commerce.
Gao Yingmang believes that key areas of the digital industry, such as communication equipment, new displays, and smart hardware, are thriving, with the industrial chain continuously extending and expanding. Some fields have formed influential large enterprises, and certain technical products have broken foreign monopolies. Emerging digital industries like cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and industrial internet are entering a new round of innovative development, accelerating iteration and upgrades under the catalysis of new technologies, creating more new products and services that meet the demands of digital development.
For the development of the digital industry, Zhu Keli suggested building a “three-in-one” policy system, strengthening support for basic research, increasing investment in foundational areas such as mathematics, algorithms, and chips, and establishing a collaborative mechanism for industry-university-research application; optimizing the combination of policy tools, exploring financial innovations such as data asset securitization based on special support funds and tax incentives; deepening the integration of application scenarios, establishing a cross-industry digital transformation standard system, and promoting the application of technologies such as digital twins and the metaverse in the cultivation of new productive forces.
According to reports, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate the research and introduction of documents to promote the high-quality development of the digital industry, increase policy support and element guarantees, strengthen monitoring of the digital industry operation, enhance the coordination and implementation of industrial policies, financial policies, etc., and accelerate the creation of digital industry clusters with international competitiveness.
(Source: Economic Daily)
Source: Dongfang Caifu Wang
Author: Economic Daily
