(Yicai Global) April 19 -- Fifth-generation wireless network, or 5G, is  expected to directly create more than three million jobs in China by  2025, according to a white paper on the development of the country's  digital economy from the China Academy of Information and Communications  Technology.

The commercialization of 5G in  China will directly contribute CNY10.6 trillion (USD1.6 trillion) to  total economic output between 2020 and 2025 and create an economic added  value of CNY3.3 trillion, the paper states, adding that it will  indirectly contribute CNY24.8 trillion to output and added value of  CNY8.4 trillion.

Compared with  fourth-generation wireless network, 5G applications will be combined  with broader real economy fields, which will greatly promote the  development of industrial internet and form key infrastructure to  support digital transformation of the economy and society, said Yu  Xiaohui, chief engineer at the CAICT.

China's  digital economy continues to expand in scale, amounting to CNY31.3  trillion last year, making up over one-third of gross domestic product  and providing just shy of one-quarter of all jobs. The digital economy  contributed over two-thirds of GDP growth last year, surpassing that of  some developed countries, and it has become a key force for driving the  country's development. 

The digital economy  will also increase the risk of structural unemployment though it is  conducive to stabilizing jobs, Yu said using robots as an example.

He said that China's manufacturing industry is at the middle to low-end of  the global value chain, and it is mainly engaged in routine work such  as production and assembly. It is highly probable that low-skilled  workers will be replaced by machines, creating huge pressure on  employment.

The CAICT is a direct research unit of China's industry ministry. 

Editor: William Clegg