China’s digital economy reached RMB 31.3 trillion (USD 4.6 trillion) in 2018, up 15% from the previous year, a recent report released by the Cyberspace Administration of China shows.
The world’s second-largest economy, which has long been dubbed as the “world’s factory,” is now moving toward a cleaner development model, with its digital economy now accounting for more than one-third of the country’s GDP. China’s GDP exceeded RMB 90 trillion last year.
In 2018, China’s e-commerce transaction volume stood at RMB 31.63 trillion, among which online retail sales accounted for RMB 9 trillion, according to the report.
At the end of 2018, China had 829 million internet users. More than 600 million of them used online payments last year.
According to the People’s Bank of China, online payments transaction volume reached RMB 208 trillion in 2018, recording 45.23% year-on-year growth .