BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – In the first half of 2026, China’s digital industry reported a total revenue of 20.71 trillion yuan, reflecting a 13.6% increase from the same period last year. The sector’s net profit reached 1.79 trillion yuan, marking a 19.3% rise. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted that the growth rate of revenue accelerated by 4.1 percentage points compared to the same period in 2025. The profit margin for the industry increased by 0.7 percentage points to 8.6%.
The bulk of China’s digital industry revenue was generated by its major regional centers. The top 10 provincial-level markets accumulated a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan, up 13.2%. These regions contributed to 83.1% of the nation’s total digital industry income and accounted for 87% of the overall revenue growth. Notable markets included Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. Central China recorded digital industry revenue totaling 2.86 trillion yuan, demonstrating a 28.3% increase compared to the previous year.
During the same period, digital infrastructure also saw significant expansion. As of the end of June, China had 5.102 million 5G base stations. The country was equipped with 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 power increased to 2,185 EFLOPS using FP16 measurement, representing a 177% growth year-over-year. The overall utilization rate of computing facilities was 71.4%.
Expansion of Digital Infrastructure Across China
China had established 52 intelligent computing centers by the end of June, each deploying more than 10,000 accelerator cards. Over 80,000 private 5G networks were active nationwide. Applications utilizing 5G and gigabit optical networks spanned 94 major sectors of the economy. Additionally, China operated over 26,000 active 5G and industrial internet projects, with authorities reporting the formation of 1,260 classified 5G factories across the country.
In the first half of 2026, digital manufacturing experienced faster growth in both production and earnings. The electronics industry’s value-added output increased by 14.8% compared to the previous year. Revenue from leading electronic information firms totaled 12.15 trillion yuan, a rise of 17.8%. Their combined profit surged by 66% to reach 703.6 billion yuan. Contributing significantly to this profit growth were segments like integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. The electronics sector’s output growth exceeded the overall industrial growth rate by 9.4 percentage points.
Software and IT Services Continue to Expand
The digital services industry in China also saw steady progress during the first half of 2026. Total telecommunications revenue increased by 8.3% at constant prices compared to the same period last year. Revenue from software and information technology services grew by 9.5%, with software products increasing by 6.9% and IT services climbing 10.4%. Major internet firms reported a 10.1% rise in revenue and a 16.6% increase in total profit from the first half of 2025.
These positive figures reflect the ongoing strength of China’s technology-related services, which 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. During the same period, the value added from information transmission, software, and information technology services grew by 10.7%. China’s digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software and IT services, as well as internet-related sectors, all of which are central to the country’s larger digital economy.