Zhejiang reports 7.1% GDP growth, digital economy a highlight

HANGZHOU - East China's Zhejiang province recorded a GDP growth of 7.1 percent in 2018, with the digital economy as an important driving force.

The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents has grown by 8.4 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, according to the government work report delivered at the ongoing annual session of the provincial people's congress.

The core industries of the digital economy witnessed a growth of 13.1 percent in added value, and 66 unmanned factories and workshops were built in the province last year.

In order to upgrade traditional industries, the province built 222 small and micro enterprises parks, added 16,000 industrial robots to factories and eliminated 1,733 companies with outdated production capacity.

The province is combining big data and artificial intelligence technologies with industry.

This year, Zhejiang will set up a digital economy industrial fund of 10 billion yuan ($1.48 billion). It also vows to build 100 unmanned workshops and factories, support 100 digital enterprises and promote the construction of 100 digitalization programs.