New strategies and technologies are needed to bring down energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions by China's information technology and telecoms industries, according to leading experts, as the world's largest emitter strives to meet ambitious climate goals.

The country's information and communications technology (ICT) sector — which includes the world's largest 5G network and second-biggest data center industry — accounts for about 25% of total energy consumption by the industry globally, Zhou Hongren, former executive vice chairman of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization, said at a summit on Tuesday.

With the rollout of 5G networks, electricity usage by the nation's communications networks has increased by 14.6% compared with 2019, Wu Hequan, academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the 1st China Digital Carbon Neutrality Summit held in Chengdu, Sichuan province.