BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's digital industry generated a revenue of 8.5 trillion yuan (about 1.18 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, up 9.4 percent from the same period last year.

The growth rate is 4.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed Friday.

In breakdown, the revenue in manufacturing rose 10.4 percent, while digital revenue in service climbed 8.2 percent.

The number of 5G base stations in China topped 4.39 million by the end of March, with the user penetration rate reaching 75.9 percent, the ministry said in April.

Key sectors in the digital economy have been steady. The software industry generated revenues of 3.1 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent.

China has been committed to developing digital technology to transform and upgrade its traditional industries.

According to this year's government work report, the country will "accelerate the digitalization of manufacturing, foster a number of service providers with both industry expertise and digital know-how, and bolster support for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises."

China is also advancing an "AI Plus" initiative, which calls for collective efforts to effectively combine digital technologies with the country's manufacturing and market strengths.