Digital economy important to China's stable economic growth: official

BEIJING -- China's digital economy has gradually integrated with the real economy and become an important engine for sustained and stable growth, an official said Thursday.

"In the post-epidemic era, the digital economy will pump new energy into China's industrial optimization, consumption upgrading and high-quality development," Gao Yan, chairperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, told the APEC China CEO Forum 2020.

Gao said that China's digital economy would enter a "golden era" under its new development paradigm.

Last year, China's digital economy stood at 35.8 trillion yuan ($5.47 trillion), contributing 67.7 percent to its GDP growth.

In the first three quarters of the year, the revenue of big data services in China reached 153 billion yuan, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, while the online sales of commodities went up 15.3 percent compared with a year ago, Gao said.

She said that China would work with Asia-Pacific economies to exploit the digital economy's potential and share the dividend in the industry.

Calling for greater responsibility from Chinese business circles, she hoped that Chinese enterprises would boost global confidence and put the world economy back on track through concrete actions, including conducting deeper cooperation in various fields, prioritizing innovation and participating in improving world governance.