Xiao Gang: The core industries of the digital economy are showing a good rise, with a growth rate maintained at over 10%.

On May 18, at the 2025 Tsinghua Wudaokou Global Finance Forum, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Xiao Gang, stated that in the first quarter of this year, China's digital economy continued to maintain a good development trend. Among them, the core industries of the digital economy are showing good momentum, with a rise rate remaining above 10% (double-digit growth).

He introduced that, from the perspective of the added value of the digital manufacturing industry, the added value of the digital manufacturing industry rose by 11.5% year-on-year, higher than the growth rate of the industrial and high-tech manufacturing industries during the same period; from the perspective of the added value of the digital service industry, the year-on-year growth of the added value in sectors such as information transmission, software, and information technology services also reached double digits.

At the same time, investment in the digital economy has also achieved a high rise. In fixed asset investment, the growth rate of investment in core industries of the digital economy has also reached double digits, especially with investments in electronic information manufacturing and information services rising by 10.1% and 10.5%, respectively.

Digital consumption has also achieved steady growth. Xiao Gang introduced that the current digital industry and digital consumption have formed a collaborative supply and demand situation, where the coordinated development of digital technology continuously drives the expansion of digital consumption scenarios. For instance, the rise of online food consumption is faster than the overall consumption growth, especially this year, where the trade-in model has rapidly developed, further boosting online consumption. Due to continuous innovations in digital technology, consumption scenarios and experiences have improved. New scenarios of "content + experience" are constantly emerging through the Internet, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse, which has greatly promoted the development of digital consumption.

From the perspective of regional distribution and total number of enterprises, the eastern region clearly leads the trend. In the first quarter of this year, A-share listed companies in the core industries of the digital economy in the eastern region contributed over 90% of the national revenue and net profit.

The development momentum of digital finance is also very good. Xiao Gang analyzed that this year, most financial institutions have begun to integrate large models such as DeepSeek in the field of digital finance. After DeepSeek promotes AI equity, many small and medium-sized financial institutions have the conditions and capabilities to apply large AI models, resulting in significant changes across the entire financial industry. By continuously applying various large AI models represented by DeepSeek, financial institutions have further innovated the digital finance development ecosystem, improving financial efficiency and customer experience.

"In the first quarter of this year, looking at the technology investment of the entire financial institution sector, while maintaining a stable rise, we have noticed a trend that is 'the investment of various financial institutions is becoming more meticulous.'" Xiao Gang pointed out that in the banking sector, the growth rate of financial technology investment in the first quarter has slowed down, and the growth is not as high as in previous years, but there is a greater emphasis on the input-output ratio. At the same time, financial institutions are further accelerating the construction of their technology talent teams, placing increasing importance on talent attraction and training.

In response to the development of the future digital economy and digital finance, Xiao Gang suggested that we should further promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy. First, we should improve the ecosystem of the digital economy industry, cultivate a cooperative ecosystem of "technology-industry-finance" that fosters a virtuous cycle, and eliminate some constraints on digital economy consumption; second, we should accelerate the construction of a governance closed loop for generative AI financial applications, refine the implementation rules for financial scenarios, and focus on the governance of risks related to the misuse of AI technology; third, we should build a high-quality financial data market and explore and improve a series of theoretical bases and practical paths for data element ownership, pricing, valuation, trading circulation, and inclusion in financial statements.

(Source: 21st Century Economic Report)

Source: Dongfang Caifu Net

Author: 21st Century Economic Report