BEIJING, April 25 -- China has sped up industrial upgrading by cultivating new quality productive forces, laying a solid foundation for strengthened recovery momentum this year and beyond.

The following are some figures highlighting the country's progress in certain areas within the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES

The high-tech manufacturing sector registered a growth of 7.5 percent in Q1, accelerating by 2.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2023.

Investment in high-tech industries has experienced robust growth, increasing by 11.4 percent from the previous year. In particular, investment in high-tech manufacturing expanded by 10.8 percent.

In the first quarter, the new energy vehicles (NEVs) output saw a substantial year-on-year increase of 28.2 percent, reaching nearly 2.12 million units, while NEVs sales climbed 31.8 percent to 2.09 million units.

NEW INFRASTRUCTURE

The number of 5G base stations in China had risen to nearly 3.65 million by the end of March this year.

The value-added output of the digital economy's core industries is estimated to exceed 12 trillion yuan (about 1.69 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023, accounting for 10 percent of China's gross domestic product.

NEW SERVICES

The high-tech services maintained rapid growth momentum. Specifically, the combined value-added output of information transmission, software and information technology services grew by 13.7 percent in the first quarter.

Online retail sales jumped 12.4 percent year on year in Q1, with online retail sales of physical goods expanding 11.6 percent and accounting for 23.3 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

NEW ENERGY

New energy consumption grew rapidly in Q1, with the proportion of coal consumption decreased by 1.1 percentage points from the same period last year, and that of non-fossil energy consumption increased by 0.8 percentage points.