The value-added output of new industries, mostly powered by the internet, accounted for 16.1 percent of China's GDP in 2018, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday.
Analysts say the rising new economy will help drive transformation of Chinese economic structure, from a model supported by high-speed development to one based on high-quality development.
The growth rate of the new economy reached 12.2 percent annually, outpacing China's GDP growth in comparable prices by 2.5 percentage points, according to the NBS.
"Developing the new economy is needed to cultivate new growth drivers of economic growth under the new normal, and it is also needed to achieve high-quality development against the background of increasingly sluggish global economic growth and also rising downward pressure on China's economy," Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times on Sunday.
The added value of the so-called first industry in the new economy was 622.7 billion yuan ($90.5 billion), equivalent to 0.7 percent of GDP, and that of the tertiary industry reached 7.6689 trillion yuan, equivalent to 8.5 percent of GDP.
The added value of secondary industry in the new economy was 6.2453 trillion yuan, equal to 6.9 percent of GDP, the fastest growing sector, with a growth rate of 15.1 percent, meaning mobile internet, robotics and artificial intelligence are backing up China's industrial upgrade.
The growth of secondary industry is manifested in the increasing output of industrial robots. The number of robot enterprises in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, increased from 594 in 2017 to 649 in 2018. The total output value of the robot industry reached 117.8 billion yuan, up 13.82 percent year-on-year, southcn.com reported on Sunday.
"The application and development of industrial robots is a combination of new industry and new type of business," said Tian. "Using smarter machine to replace manual is an upgrade of traditional manufacturing. And some robots are equipped with data transducers based on internet, which is a technical breakthrough on automation."
"The new economy is involved in all aspects of the three major industrial sectors, featuring artificial intelligence, personalized service, social sharing and cross-border broader integration," said Deng Zhou, deputy director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, China Economic Times reported. Deng added that many traditional industries are being upgraded with new technologies.
New industries grew from the industrialization of new technology applications, from differentiated, upgraded and integrated traditional industries that have adopted modern information technology, according to the NBS.
New types of businesses are derived from existing industries and fields by tapping new technologies including the internet and AI, which enables more flexible and efficient personalized services.
The new business model refers to the integration and reorganization of operations in enterprises to form an efficient and distinctive competitive business operational model, read the NBS statement.
"At present, China's output of new industries, new types of business and new business models accounts for only 16.1 percent of GDP, so there is a huge development space and potential in the future," Tian said. "Especially in the secondary and tertiary industries as China is the leader of using new technologies."
