China’s cybersecurity industry: a market analysis (part 1)

China’s cybersecurity industry: a market analysis (part 1)

Beijing, Nov. 1, 2022

In recent years, China’s cybersecurity market has developed rapidly. There are many companies with different approaches in this market. The competition is fierce. Against this background, „China Briefing“ took a deep look into this market area.

Here is the result:

The development of cybersecurity offers many opportunities for enterprises . In recent years, Chinese companies and institutions have greatly expanded their cybersecurity capabilities. Foreign and domestic hacker groups have by no means ignored China.

The following analysis provides an accurate picture of the latest developments in China’s cybersecurity industry.

Key facts and figures about China’s cybersecurity market:

– In 2021, China’s cybersecurity market reached RMB 62.7 billion (US$8.64 billion), an increase of RMB 9.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) or 17 percent compared to 2020.

– In 2022, China’s cybersecurity market revenue will reach US$14.05 billion, with cyber solutions representing the largest market segment with a total volume of US$9.42 billion.

– The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT)2021 strategic plan for China’s cybersecurity industry stipulated that major industries such as telecommunications must allocate 10 percent of their IT upgrade budget to cybersecurity by 2023.

– The Chinese government expects the cybersecurity industry to be worth more than RMB 250 billion (US$38.6 billion) by the same year. That’s why Beijing is encouraging the development of increasing demand for goods and technologies such as data security monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) threat detection.

As a result, the Chinese cybersecurity market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 12.4 percent through 2027.

Factors driving the increasing demand for cybersecurity

In the digital age, Chinese companies are responsible for an ever-increasing number of information and data transactions. These companies are currently the main targets of cyberattacks. Due to organizational system weaknesses, the loss of important data often occurs. Internet users in China suffered financial losses of up to RMB 91.5 billion (US$12.62 billion) between 2016 and 2017 due to loss of personal data, fraud, spam emails, and other similar issues.

Another factor is the speed at which Internet coverage and speed is being expanded. One example is the Broadband China Project, which aims to provide 95 percent of the urban population with access to controlled high-speed broadband networks. In addition, China’s State Council plans to invest US$22 billion in expanding broadband network infrastructure in the country’s rural areas. This investment aims to provide around 30 million households with improved Internet services and covers around 50,000 villages.

Finally, there are a large number of smartphone users in China. Various applications that collect sensitive personal data are used on these smartphones: Online transaction processing apps and social networks make the Internet a highly vulnerable place where users‘ data is exposed to cyberattacks.

(Part 2 follows tomorrow)