BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – In the first half of 2026, China’s digital industry generated a total revenue of 20.71 trillion yuan, reflecting a 13.6% year-on-year increase. The sector’s profits reached 1.79 trillion yuan, which is a 19.3% rise. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology indicated that revenue growth accelerated by 4.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The industry’s profit margin stood at 8.6%, up by 0.7 percentage point.
The majority of the national digital industry’s revenue was generated by China’s leading digital hubs. The top ten provincial-level markets amassed a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan, representing a 13.2% increase. These markets accounted for 83.1% of the country’s total digital industry revenue and contributed 87% to the overall revenue growth. Among these regions, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang ranked as the primary markets. Central China alone reported 2.86 trillion yuan in digital industry revenue, an increase of 28.3% from the previous year.
Digital infrastructure also saw notable expansion over the first half of the year. By the end of June, China had established 5.102 million 5G base stations. The country also possessed 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 measured using FP16, marking a 177% increase from the previous year. Overall utilization across data centers and computing facilities was reported at 71.4%.
Expansion of Digital Infrastructure Across China
China had established 52 intelligent computing centers with over 10,000 accelerator cards deployed as of June. The country also had more than 80,000 private 5G industry networks in operation. Applications utilizing 5G and gigabit optical networks spanned 94 major sectors of the national economy. Additionally, China reported over 26,000 active projects in 5G and industrial internet, with authorities stating that 1,260 classified 5G factories had been set up nationwide.
During the first half of the year, digital manufacturing experienced accelerated growth in both output and earnings. The electronics industry’s value-added output increased by 14.8% compared to last year. Revenue from leading electronic information manufacturers reached 12.15 trillion yuan, up 17.8%. Their combined profits jumped 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. The strong contribution of integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials significantly boosted the profit growth. Electronics sector output growth surpassed the overall industrial growth by 9.4 percentage points.
Growth Continues in Software and IT Services
China’s digital services industry also maintained momentum in the first half of 2026. Total telecommunications revenue increased by 8.3% at constant prices from the previous year. Revenue from software and IT services grew by 9.5%. Specifically, software product sales rose by 6.9%, and IT services revenue saw a 10.4% increase. Leading internet firms reported a 10.1% growth in revenue and a 16.6% rise in overall profit compared to the same period of 2025.
These positive figures in the digital industry came amid continued outperformance of technology-based services relative to the broader economy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy grew by 4.7% in the first half of 2026. The sectors of information transmission, software, and information technology services experienced a 10.7% growth in added value during this period. China’s digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software and IT services, and internet-related services, forming a vital component of the country’s larger digital economy.