BEIJING — China’s information consumption is eyeing great potential since the country unveiled many policies to boost its development as part of an effort to stimulate domestic demand, the Economic Information Daily reported on Jan 8.

The country’s information consumption in 2018 stood at around 5 trillion yuan (about $729.9 billion), jumping 13 percent year-on-year, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

“The emergence of new modes, new technologies and new products provides information consumption with large potential for further growth,” the paper quoted Zhang Li, a researcher with the CAICT, as saying.

Zhang also said information consumption played an increasingly important role in expanding consumption in other areas, serving as a new economic growth engine.

To bolster information consumption, China called for more efforts to support innovations in the fields of wearable devices, consumer drones, robots providing smart services and virtual reality.

An official guideline released in August 2018 said China aims to boost the consumption of information products and services to 6 trillion yuan in 2020 and ensure an annual growth rate of at least 11 percent.