BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – In the first half of 2026, China’s digital industry amassed a total of 20.71 trillion yuan in revenue, reflecting a 13.6% increase compared to the same period last year. Profits for the sector reached 1.79 trillion yuan, marking a 19.3% growth. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the rate of revenue growth accelerated by 4.1 percentage points from the previous year. Additionally, the industry’s profit margin advanced to 8.6%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points.
By mid-2026, the major digital industry hubs across China contributed significantly to the national figures. The top 10 provincial-level markets generated a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan, an uplift of 13.2%. These regions accounted for 83.1% of the country’s total digital industry revenue and drove 87% of the overall revenue increase. Leading markets included Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. Meanwhile, Central China reported a digital industry revenue of 2.86 trillion yuan, representing a 28.3% rise from the previous year.
In addition, China saw notable expansion in digital infrastructure during this period. As of June, the country had deployed 5.102 million 5G base stations. The network also included 32.86 million 10G PON ports capable of supporting gigabit network services. The number of 5G RedCap base stations reached 2.247 million. Meanwhile, intelligent computing capacity surged to 2,185 EFLOPS using FP16 measurement, a 177% increase year-over-year. The utilization rate across all computing facilities averaged 71.4%.
Expansion of Digital Infrastructure Across China
China had established 52 intelligent computing centers by the end of June, each equipped with more than 10,000 accelerator cards. Over 80,000 private 5G industry networks were operational nationwide. Applications utilizing 5G and gigabit optical networks covered 94 major sectors of the economy. Additionally, China had more than 26,000 active 5G and industrial internet projects. Authorities reported the creation of 1,260 classified 5G factories across the country.
During the first half, digital manufacturing experienced accelerated growth, both in production volume and earnings. The electronics industry’s value-added output increased by 14.8% compared to last year. Major electronic information manufacturers achieved a revenue of 12.15 trillion yuan, up by 17.8%. Their combined profits jumped 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. Contributions from integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials played a key role in this profit surge. The output growth in electronics surpassed the overall industrial growth rate by 9.4 percentage points.
Continued Growth in Software and IT Services
In the first six months of 2026, China’s digital services segment also demonstrated strong momentum. The total volume of telecommunications business increased by 8.3% at constant prices compared to the same period last year. Revenue from software and IT services grew by 9.5%. Within this, software product revenue expanded by 6.9%, while IT services saw a 10.4% rise. Leading internet firms reported a 10.1% increase in revenue and a 16.6% jump in total profit compared to the first half of 2025.
These positive figures coincide with ongoing tech-driven service expansion that continues to outperform broader economic growth. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy grew by 4.7% during this period. The sectors of information transmission, software, and information technology services recorded a 10.7% increase in value added. The digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software and IT services, and internet-related services, all forming a vital part of the nation’s broader digital economy.