China's New Economic Drivers Grow Faster

　　I. The index of new economic drivers rises year by year

　　The measurement results show that the index of China's new economic drivers from 2015 to 2017 was 123.5, 156.7 and 210.1, increased by 23.5%, 26.9% and 34.1% over last year, respectively. The index of new economic drivers rises year by year, indicating that China's new economic drivers have accelerated growth and further released the economic vitality, which has become an important power to relieve the pressure of economic downward and promote high-quality development. 

　　II. Cyber economy achieves the fastest development and makes the greatest contribution 

　　With the popularization of smart terminals and the acceleration of fixed broadband and mobile networks, the cyber economy represented by e-commerce plays a more prominent role in promoting economic development. In 2017, the cyber economy index reached 362.1 and contributed 34.5% to the index of new economic drivers, with the fastest development and the greatest contribution. According to the main indicators, the number of mobile Internet users reached 1.27 billion in 2017, which grew by 16.2% over last year, with an increase of 2.8%; the mobile Internet access traffic reached 24.59 billion GB, which was 2.6 times that in 2016, 5.9 times that in 2015 and 12 times that in 2014; the number of fixed Internet broadband access users reached 350 million, increased by 17.3% over last year. 

　　Relying on the Internet platform, online consumption continues to maintain a strong growth momentum, smart retail, crossover retail and other new consumption patterns have sprung up. In 2017, China's e-commerce platform transactions reached RMB 29.2 trillion, increased by 11.7%. Online consumption continued to grow rapidly, with the national online retail sales increasing by 32.2% in 2017, 22.0% higher than the total retail sales of consumer goods in the whole society. The online retail sales of physical goods grew by 28.0%, accounting for 15.0% of total retail sales of consumer goods, which was increased from 12.6% in 2016. The volume of cross-border e-commerce transactions reached RMB 1.62 trillion, and continued to increase steadily. With the popularization of mobile intelligent devices and the promotion of intelligent operation of retail enterprises, people's consumption habits have gradually changed, and the substitution of online consumption for offline consumption has been enhanced. In 2017, the substitution rate of online shopping in China was 80.1%, 0.7% higher than last year, and it continued to increase steadily. 

　　III. The number of newly registered market subjects has steadily increased, and the market vitality has been constantly stimulated 

　　With the extensive development of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation", new industries, business modes and business models are flourishing, greatly stimulating the new vitality of economic development. In 2017, the economic vitality index was 284.3, increased by 38.4% over last year. According to the main indicators, the number of newly registered market subjects increased from 16.513 million in 2016 to 19.249 million in 2017, which grew by 16.6%, and the number of average daily registration is 53,000; the number of incubators for science and technology enterprises increased from 3,255 in 2016 to 4,063 in 2017, increased by 24.8%. In 2017, the number of companies listed on GEM and NEEQ reached 12,340, which grew by 15.0%, 6.2 times that in 2014. Furthermore, the sustained prosperity of cyber economy boosts the establishment and improvement of the logistics ecosystem and the express business presents a sustained and rapid development trend. In 2017, the express business volume reached 40.06 billion parcels with an increase of 28.0% over last year, making it one of the distinct signs of the new vitality of economy.

　　IV. R&D investment is increased and the technical market maintains rapid growth

　　With the deep implementation of innovation-driven development strategy and the implementation of a series of policies to support innovation and entrepreneurship, science and technology enterprises grow faster, enterprises' R&D investment continues to increase and their ability to transform innovation achievements has been improved significantly. In 2017, the innovation-driven index was 143.3, increased by 13.4% over last year. According to the main indicators, the cumulative number of graduated science and technology enterprises nationwide specialized in incubators rose from 90,000 in 2016 to 111,000 in 2017, increased by 23.4%. In 2017, the R&D investment of enterprises increased by 12.5%, 0.9% up over last year; the proportion of R&D investment in GDP increased from 2.11% in 2016 to 2.13% in 2017; the contract amount of the technical market increased by 17.7%, 1.7% higher than that of last year. 

　　V. The transition of old drivers to new ones is accelerated, and strategic emerging industries and high-tech manufacturing industries grow faster 

　　With the deepening of supply-side structural reform, new achievements have been made in enterprise innovation and development, quality improvement and efficiency enhancement, industrial structure has been continuously optimized and upgraded and the transition of old drivers to new ones has been accelerated. In 2017, the transition upgrade index was 132.3, increased by 6.4% over last year. According to the main indicators, the proportion of the added value of strategic emerging industries in GDP was 8.9% in 2017, 0.6% higher than that of last year. The added value of strategic emerging industries above designated size increased by 11.0%, 4.4% higher than that of industries above designated size. In 2017, the added value of high-tech manufacturing industries increased by 13.4%, accounting for 12.7% of the added value of industries above designated size, 0.3% up over last year. The proportion of high-tech product exports in total exports was 31.3%, 2.5% up over last year. In terms of business modes, the business income of emerging services reached RMB 6.9 trillion, increased by 52.5% over last year; the proportion of "four types of enterprises above designated size" selling goods and services through e-commerce trading platform was 9.5%, increased by 3.6% over 2014. At the same time, the energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 3.7%, and the work of green development and environmental protection was further promoted.

　　VI. The proportion of high-skilled talents has increased year by year, and the R&D efficiency has been improved constantly.

　　Knowledge is an important supporting factor for the development and growth of new drivers, and skilled talents are the key to the transition of old drivers to new ones. In 2017, the knowledge capability index was 128.5, increased by 2.7% over last year. According to the main indicators, the proportion of people with master's degree or above in the economically active population was 0.78% in 2017, slightly higher than that of last year; the proportion of professionals in employees of "four types of enterprises above designated size" was 14.3%, increased by 0.3% over last year; the proportion of information personnel in the non-information sector was 2.1%, increased by 0.1% over last year; the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel was 4.034 million  people-year, increased by 156,000 people-year. 

　　Notes: 

　　1. Substitution rate of online shopping refers to the proportion of the amount of goods or services purchased by online shopping users in the total amount of online shopping in the absence of online retail channels, reflecting the substitution of online consumption for offline consumption. 2. "Four types of enterprises above designated size" refer to industrial enterprises above designated size, construction enterprises with qualifications, wholesale and retail accommodation and catering enterprises above designated size and service providers above designated size.