BEIJING, May 8 (INP): China's digital economy reached31.3 trillion yuan (US dollar 4.6 trillion) in 2018, accounting for 34.8 percent of the country's total GDP, says a report released by the country's Cyberspace Administration.

Unveiled at the ongoing 2nd Digital China Summit in southeastern China's city of Fuzhou, the report shows that the country's innovation system was continuously improved, as the outstanding loans of China's enterprises on science and technology stood at 3.53 trillion yuan at the end of last year.

According to a report, posted at China Economic Net's Website, digital economy has fostered and strengthened the country's new drivers of development, with 31.63 trillion yuan of e-commerce trade volume and over 9 trillion yuan of online retail sales last year, as well as more than 600 million users of online payment, according to the report.

The report also shows that the added value of the country's manufacturing industry increased by 11.7 percent in 2018.

Moreover, data resources have become a core factor behind the development of digital economy, and information consumption has become as China's foreign trade of goods climbed 4.3 percent year on year in the first four months of this year to 9.51 trillion yuan (about 1.41 trillion U.S. dollars), customs data showed Wednesday.

Meanwhile, China’s exports increased by 5.7 percent year on year to 5.06 trillion yuan during this period, while imports went up by 2.9 percent to 4.45 trillion yuan, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.

Trade surplus rose by 31.8 percent to 618.17 billion yuan during this period.

April trade expanded by 6.5 percent to reach 2.51 trillion yuan. Exports grew by 3.1 percent in yuan terms last month, while imports jumped by 10.3 percent, GAC data showed.

Trade surplus stood at 93.57 billion yuan in April, shrinking by 43.8 percent year on year. strong driving force for domestic demand and economic growth, according to the report.

INP/J/AJ