China to further integrate cloud computing with real economy

China is set to accelerate its steps to further integrate cloud computing technologies with the real economy, which will inject new impetus to the country's economic growth, said an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"With the booming digital economy, cloud computing is entering a new phase of rapid development," Zhang Feng, chief engineer of the MIIT, said on Tuesday at the 10th China Cloud Computing Conference in Beijing.

"China's cloud computing industry has grown at an annualized rate of more than 30 percent during recent years, becoming one of the fastest growing markets in the globe," Zhang added.

The digital economy, particularly cloud computing and big data sector, is playing an increasingly key role in driving China's economy growth.

A report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed that China's digital economy was worth 27.2 trillion yuan ($3.98 trillion) in 2017, accounting for 32.9 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

Zhang proposed to make a bigger push to develop the cloud computing in five aspects, thus creating new growth and foster high-quality development.

According to Zhang, more efforts should be made to create a more enabling environment, promote the deep integration of cloud computing, big data, internet of things and artificial intelligence, improve the industrial public service system, further develop the industrial internet and boost the construction of the cybersecurity system.

"Cloud computing has become a key piece of basic infrastructure-like water and electricity," said Wang Endong, academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "In the next 10 years, cloud computing will revolutionize the traditional industries such as manufacturing factor, to promote the digital transformation and smart production."

China has set ambitious goal in cloud computing, expecting industry to be worth 430 billion yuan by 2019, said a government plan unveiled last year.

According to the plan, China will make breakthroughs and expand the presence of the Chinese cloud computing companies in the global market.

Hosted by Chinese Institute of Electronics, the 10th China Cloud Computing Conference starts from Monday to Wednesday.