HANGZHOU – The global digital trade sector has remained resilient amid multiple external pressures, with export value reaching $7.75 trillion in 2025, up 7.1 percent year-on-year, according to a report released Thursday.
The export value accounted for 22.2 percent of total exports of global goods and services, up 2.6 percentage points from 2021, continuing to outpace total global trade growth, said the report titled Global Digital Trade Development Report 2026 unveiled at the ongoing fifth Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province.
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The report presents the scale and structure of global digital trade, technological transformation and innovative practices, while exploring future industry trends.
Digitally delivered trade exports reached about $5.26 trillion, accounting for 67.9 percent of the total, with cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence services leading growth. Meanwhile, digitally ordered trade exports stood at $2.49 trillion, according to the report.
For the first time, the report compiles 20 global digital trade innovation achievements from economies at different development stages, spanning diverse scenarios including AI empowerment, cross-border payments, green trade and digital intellectual property.
China's digitally deliverable service trade value expanded at an average annual rate of 11.2 percent between 2016 and 2025, outpacing the global average by 1.8 percentage points.
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The fifth Global Digital Trade Expo, an event dedicated to promoting digital trade and industrial cooperation, is being held from Sept 23 to 27.
The expo features 170,000 square meters of exhibition space, with international exhibitors accounting for over 20 percent of the total. The number of overseas pavilions has already exceeded the combined total of all previous editions.
According to a guideline on boosting reform and innovative development of digital trade released in November 2024, China expects the share of digitally deliverable service trade in total service trade to exceed 45 percent by 2029 and 50 percent by 2035.
