BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China is expected to see faster digital economy growth as the grant of 5G commercial-use licenses will stimulate industrial upgrading, according to global market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

The digital economy is expected to play a key role in the future, which might make up 60 percent of the global economy, with the share in China even higher at 65 percent, IDC China president Huo Jinjie said Wednesday at the IDC Directions 2019, an annual ICT industrial conference.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted commercial-use 5G licenses last week to China Broadcasting Network and the country's top three telecom operators.

The commercialization of 5G technologies will make data gathering and exchange easier and faster, propelling the growth of fields such as autonomous driving and safe cities, according to Huo.

China's development of smart cities will accelerate as applications of related technologies focus on specific fields, according to the IDC.

"Companies should leverage digital platforms and ecosystems to expand innovation capabilities," Huo said.

IDC predicted Chinese companies to invest over one trillion U.S. dollars in IT spending related to digital transformation from 2019 to 2022.

The Chinese IT security market might reach 13.8 billion dollars by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 24.9 percent from 2018 to 2022, IDC data showed.