GUIYANG, Jan. 22 -- The digital economy accounted for 42 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in southwest China's Guizhou Province in 2023, local authorities said on Monday.

Data from a press briefing shows that the province's GDP surpassed 2.09 trillion yuan (about 291 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, registering a 4.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Peng Xianhua, deputy director of the provincial development and reform commission, said that Guizhou saw breakthrough growth in its computing power last year as one of eight designated national computing hubs, with over 70,000 intelligent computing chips now in use in the province, a 93-fold year-on-year increase.

Guizhou also reached a milestone in 5G infrastructure construction, deploying 35,000 new base stations across key areas, industrial parks and transport hubs last year.

Since the province was approved to build the country's first national, comprehensive big data pilot zone in 2016, it has become the frontrunner in the country's big data industry.