Reference News Network, February 11 report. According to Bloomberg.com on February 9, as tech giants such as Tencent accelerate their overseas expansion in live streaming, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence, China's digital service exports have seen a significant increase.
Data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange shows that in 2025, China's digital service trade surplus doubled, reaching a historical high of about $33 billion.
According to calculations by Bloomberg News based on balance of payments data, the export value of telecommunications, computer, and information services, including AI businesses, grew by nearly 30% last year.
This growth trend highlights the increasing urgency for Chinese tech companies to seek overseas growth.
Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance dominate China's digital service exports, operating overseas in e-commerce, gaming, and social networking fields.
Chinese AI companies are setting up data centers overseas. Alibaba and its competitors operate large computing platforms, mainly supporting the overseas operations of Chinese enterprises. Tencent's cloud computing facilities span Silicon Valley, Riyadh, and Singapore, providing technological support for video conferencing and gaming services.
The overseas expansion of Chinese new energy vehicle, renewable energy, and manufacturing companies has further spurred demand for overseas digital services. These companies need to process and store data abroad, driving the growth of overseas business demands for cloud computing service providers such as China Telecom, Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent.
In 2025, due to rapid export growth, China's goods trade surplus rose to a historical peak of nearly $120 billion, but the service trade sector had long been in deficit. The Chinese government has pledged to take measures to help Chinese enterprises expand service exports, including digital services and AI-related services.
According to the International Monetary Fund's classification statistics on cross-border businesses such as data transmission, cloud computing, and software development, China ranks fourth in global telecommunications, computer, and information service exports. (Translated by Yang Ke)
The Cainiao Global Supply Chain Haikou Smart Logistics Center in the Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, a key park in Hainan Free Trade Port (drone photo, taken on November 23, 2025). (Xinhua News Agency)
Original article: toutiao.com/article/7605499076787880448/
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