BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – During the first half of 2026, China’s digital industry brought in 20.71 trillion yuan in revenue, representing a 13.6% increase compared to the previous year. Profits for the sector reached 1.79 trillion yuan, up by 19.3%. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted that the sector’s revenue growth accelerated by 4.1 percentage points from the same period last year, while profit margins rose to 8.6%, an increase of 0.7 percentage point.
Most of the total digital industry revenue was generated by China’s leading regional markets. The top 10 provincial-level digital markets accumulated a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan, a 13.2% rise. These markets contributed 83.1% of the nation’s total digital revenue and accounted for 87% of the overall revenue growth. Among these major regions are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. Central China alone saw digital industry income of 2.86 trillion yuan, reflecting a 28.3% increase year-on-year.
The expansion of digital infrastructure continued during this period. As of June, China had 5.102 million 5G base stations, and 32.86 million 10G PON ports capable of supporting gigabit services. The number of 5G RedCap base stations reached 2.247 million. Meanwhile, computing capacity in the country rose significantly, reaching 2,185 EFLOPS with FP16 measurements—a 177% increase over the previous year. The overall utilization rate of computing facilities was 71.4%.
Growth 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 leveraging 5G and gigabit optical networks spanned 94 key sectors of the economy. Additionally, China had more than 26,000 active 5G and industrial internet projects, with authorities reporting that 1,260 classified 5G factories had been set up across the country.
In the first half, digital manufacturing experienced accelerated growth in both output and revenue. The value-added output of electronics increased by 14.8% compared to the previous year. Major electronic information manufacturers posted revenue of 12.15 trillion yuan, up 17.8%, with their combined profits surging 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. Key contributors to this profit growth included integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. The electronics sector’s output growth surpassed the overall industrial growth by 9.4 percentage points.
Software and IT Services Continue Their Expansion
The digital services segment in China also demonstrated robust growth during the initial half of 2026. Telecommunications business volume increased by 8.3% at constant prices from the same period last year. Revenue from software and information technology services rose by 9.5%. Specifically, software product revenue grew by 6.9%, while IT services revenue saw a 10.4% rise. Leading internet companies experienced a 10.1% increase in revenue and a 16.6% growth in total profit compared to the first half of 2025.
These figures for China’s digital industry reflect the sector’s resilience as technology-driven services continue to outperform broader economic growth. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy expanded by 4.7% in the first half of 2026. The value added in information transmission, software, and information technology services grew by 10.7% during this period. The country’s digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software and IT services, and internet-related services, forming a core component of China’s larger digital economy.