BEIJING, July 19 -- China saw robust growth of its information and communication sector in the first half of the year, as the country strengthened new information infrastructure construction and vigorously promoted the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Wednesday.

During the period, business revenue of the telecommunications industry increased by 6.2 percent, and total business volume rose 17.1 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said at a press conference.

The revenue of emerging businesses such as internet data centers, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things increased by 19.2 percent year on year, driving the growth of telecommunications business revenue by 3.7 percentage points.

By the end of June 2023, there were nearly 2.94 million 5G base stations in China, while 5G mobile phone users in the country reached 676 million, said the ministry.