Emerging industries have become major contributors to China's rapid data production growth in 2024, according to the National Data Resources Survey Report 2024 to be issued by the National Data Administration on Tuesday.
China generated 41.06 zettabytes of data in 2024, up 25 percent year on year, according to the report.
The smart devices sector registered the highest growth, with data related to smart homes and intelligent connected vehicles increasing by 51.43 percent and 29.28 percent year on year, respectively.
"On the one hand, intelligent applications such as connected vehicles and large models have significantly contributed to data growth, accounting for over 40 percent of the total. On the other hand, emerging sectors like the low-altitude economy and robotics have become new drivers of data growth, with their growth rates exceeding 30 percent, despite the fact that their data output has remained relatively small," said Jiang Yan, director of the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center, in an interview with China Central Television.
Meanwhile, China's data resource development and utilization have steadily increased, with artificial intelligence playing an increasingly important role in driving industrial innovation.
In 2024, 66.1 percent of leading enterprises across various industries had purchased data, according to the report.
The adoption of large AI models also saw a notable increase, with the number of companies using them rising by over 37 percent year on year. In addition, around 10 percent of enterprises nationwide are now using large AI models to assist in research and development, production, sales, and other business processes, according to the report.
The report also highlighted the growing role of economic powerhouse provinces as major data resource hubs.
"Nationwide, data resources are increasingly concentrated in the eastern regions. In Jiangsu and Guangdong, digital investment by enterprises is 1.71 times of the national average, providing strong support for regional data development and utilization," Jiang added.
Emerging industries become major contributors to China's rapid data production growth in 2024: report
