Shanghai leads the digital talent pool nationwide as the city integrates information and communication technology with manufacturing and the financial sector, said a report jointly released by the Tsinghua University and LinkedIn today.

Digital talent includes both ICT expertise and trans-disciplinary talent. Such talent drives the development of the digital economy which is essential to power China’s economic and digital transformation, according to the China Digital Economy Talent Report.

China’s digital economy grew 16.6 percent in 2016, more than double the GDP growth rate last year, due to China’s world-leading e-commerce, mobile payment and sharing economy, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.