Emerging services drive China's telecom volume to grow 10 pct in 2024

China's telecom business volume grew by 10 percent in 2024 to 1.74 trillion yuan (about 240 billion U.S. dollars), with emerging sectors like cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) accounting for a quarter of total revenue, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Sunday.

Telecom revenue increased by 3.2 percent year on year, with a significant contribution from emerging sectors. Revenue from these services amounted to 434.8 billion yuan (about 60 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking a 10.6 percent rise from the previous year.

Notably, cloud computing revenue grew by 13.2 percent, big data surged by 69.2 percent, and mobile IoT increased by 13.3 percent, reflecting the growing demand for digital technologies in China's economy.

A video about a master craftsman and his son making headpieces, or "Kui Mao", for a Wu opera troupe ahead of their Chinese New Year tour was featured in the 2026 Spring Festival Gala broadcast on Monday evening.

The China Global Television Network (CGTN) Super Night segment, titled "The Story of the Kui Mao", showed a story about craftsman Mei Lizhong, who has made these iconic headdresses for over 30 years, and is now passing on the cultural heritage to his son.

Wu Opera, also known as Jinhua Opera, is a time-honored art form from east China's Zhejiang Province.

More than a costume piece, each "Kui Mao" conveys a character's gender, status and personality traits.

Built on a paper-carved frame and adorned with delicate kingfisher feathers and shimmering gold gilding, each detail reveals the character's identity.

The annual gala, also known as "Chunwan," was first broadcast in 1983 and has become a hallmark of Spring Festival celebrations in China.

Recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s most-watched annual television program, the show attracts more than one billion viewers each year.