China’s Cyberspace Administration takes a look at the country’s booming Information Technology (IT) sectors in a fresh report. The report on the development of China’s digital economy shows that the area has expanded rapidly in past years.

In 2017, China’s digital economy had a total output of 27 trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion), up more than 20 percent from the previous year. That made up almost one third of China’s GDP. Analysts say the application of IT is an important driver in China’s economic upgrading.

The development of digital economy was thanks to the hardware resources.

In 2017, China produced 97 million smart televisions, up about 4 percent from 2016. In addition, Chinese manufacturers assembled 130 thousand industrial robots, up 81 percent from 2016. Also last year, China produced 2.9 million civilian drones, with a 67 percent increase.

As a result, China’s ever pervasive mobile payment sector processed transactions exceeding 200 trillion yuan ($31.2 trillion).

Big data is an emerging segment in the IT sector. And it’s viewed by many industrial players as a strategic area and potential source of growth.

The total output of the sector amounted to 23 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) last year. Although that is still a small number, the sector’s growth has been fast. China Academy of Information and Communications Technology estimates that the sector’s output will reach 33 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) in 2018.