In 2022, China's digital economy exceeded 50 trillion yuan ($7.15 trillion) for the first time, as the digital economy is playing an important role in the national economy, Economic Information Daily reported on Thursday, based on a number of newly released researches.

Digital Economic Development Index 2023 released on May 15 by a market research firm CCID Consulting, showed the index value of China's digital economy reached 202.3 in the fourth quarter of 2022, 1.8 times more than the same period in 2018.

Liu Xu, senior analyst of CCID Consulting, said that in the past year, faced with multiple factors beyond expectations, China's Digital Economic Development Index still formed a steady upward trajectory. Indicators such as digital infrastructure, digital industry and digital governance grew at a high rate, while indicators such as digital integration, vitality of the main body and public participation made steady progress. "Overall, the digital economy plays an increasingly prominent role in accelerating economic and social development," she said.

A recently issued research report on China's digital economy development by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology also verified that the digital economy has become an important driver to maintain the country's growth.

According to the report, China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan in 2022, nominally up 10.3 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was significantly higher than the GDP nominal growth over the same periods for 11 consecutive years. The proportion of digital economy in GDP was equivalent to that of the secondary industry in the national economy, reaching 41.5 percent.

The total-factor productivity of the digital economy has also increased further. According to the report, the total-factor productivity of the digital economy in 2022 is 1.75, an increase of 0.09 compared to 2012. Both the productivity level and year-on-year growth of the digital economy were significantly higher than the overall production efficiency of the national economy, and played a supporting and driving role in improving the production efficiency of the national economy.

China made new breakthroughs in the development of their digital economy in 2022, with a larger scale and a higher proportion, which will continue to escort the steady growth of the national economy, said Yu Xiaohui, head of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.