BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – During the initial six months of 2026, China’s digital industry achieved a total revenue of 20.71 trillion yuan, reflecting a 13.6% increase compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, overall profits surged by 19.3%, reaching 1.79 trillion yuan. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted an industry profit margin of 8.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous year. These figures encompass key sectors within China’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
Leading regional digital markets in China continued to dominate activity during this period. The top 10 provincial-level markets amassed a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan, marking a 13.2% rise from the previous year. These regions collectively accounted for 83.1% of the national digital industry revenue and contributed to 87% of the sector’s overall revenue growth. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang remained among the country’s primary digital hubs.
Growth in Central China outpaced the national average for the digital sector. The region’s revenue reached 2.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.3% year-over-year. Over the first half of 2026, China continued to expand its communications and computing infrastructure. As of June, the country had installed 5.102 million 5G base stations and supported 32.86 million 10G PON ports enabling gigabit network services. The number of 5G RedCap base stations hit 2.247 million.
Expansion in Computing Power and 5G Connectivity
China’s intelligent computing capacity reached 2,185 EFLOPS measured in FP16 during this period, representing a 177% increase compared to the previous year. Utilization of computing facilities stood at 71.4%. Furthermore, China has developed 52 intelligent computing centers, each equipped with over 10,000 accelerator cards. Nationwide, more than 80,000 private 5G networks are in operation, with over 26,000 active projects combining 5G technology with industrial internet applications.
In the manufacturing sector, digital production demonstrated robust growth in output, revenue, and profit. The value-added output within electronics rose by 14.8% from the previous year. Major electronic information manufacturers generated 12.15 trillion yuan in revenue, reflecting a 17.8% increase, while their combined profits grew by 66%, reaching 703.6 billion yuan. Growth was driven by sectors such as integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and electronic materials. During this period, electronics output growth surpassed overall industrial growth by 9.4 percentage points.
Software and Internet Services Continue to Grow
The software and information technology services sector in China maintained steady expansion alongside digital manufacturing. In the first half of 2026, sector revenue increased by 9.5%. Revenue from software products went up by 6.9%, and information technology services revenue grew by 10.4%. Major internet firms reported a 10.1% rise in revenue, with their total profits increasing by 16.6% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, telecommunications business volume grew by 8.3% at constant prices.
Compared to China’s overall economy, the digital industry grew at a faster rate during the first six months of 2026. The National Bureau of Statistics announced a 4.7% growth in the country’s gross domestic product for this period. The sectors of information transmission, software, and IT services experienced a 10.7% increase in added value. China’s digital economy comprises electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software, IT services, and internet-related industries, which together generated trillions of yuan in revenue in the first half of the year.