Experts highlight data's role in economy
China DailyVisitors check out video games during the Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing on Tuesday. REN CHAO/XINHUA China should leverage its massive data resources to foster new growth drivers and further expand the application scenarios of data in various sectors, given that data has become a new type of production factor and has injected fresh impetus into the high-quality development of the digital economy, experts said. Noting that China — as the world's largest data producer — has unique advantages in accelerating the development of its digital economy, Jiang said more efforts are needed to give full play to the multiplier effects of data elements, create more abundant applications in a wider range of sectors and promote the sharing, development and utilization of public data. China's total data output reached 32.85 zettabytes in 2023, an increase of 22.4 percent year-on-year, while the added value of core digital economy industries accounted for 10 percent of GDP, according to the National Data Administration. Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said data elements have been rapidly integrated into various areas like production, circulation, consumption and social services, and are playing an increasingly vital role in bolstering industrial upgrades.