BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – During the first half of 2026, China’s digital industry experienced a notable expansion, generating 20.71 trillion yuan in revenue, which marked a 13.6% increase compared to the same period last year. The sector’s total profit also rose by 19.3%, reaching 1.79 trillion yuan. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the industry’s profit margin stood at 8.6%, representing a 0.7 percentage point improvement from the previous year. These figures encompass key segments of China’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
Leading regional digital markets in China continued to hold sway over industry activity during this period. The top 10 provincial-level markets combined for 17.21 trillion yuan in revenue, reflecting a 13.2% year-over-year growth. These regions accounted for 83.1% of the country’s total digital industry revenue and contributed 87% to the sector’s overall revenue increase. Provinces like Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang remained central hubs of China’s digital economy.
Central China outpaced the national digital growth average, with regional revenue reaching 2.86 trillion yuan—up 28.3% from the previous year. Infrastructure development for communications and computing continued at a brisk pace, with China ending June with 5.102 million 5G base stations. The country also supported gigabit network services with 32.86 million 10G PON ports. Additionally, the number of 5G RedCap base stations reached 2.247 million.
Expansion in Computing Power and 5G Infrastructure
China’s intelligent computing capacity hit 2,185 EFLOPS (measured in FP16) during the period, representing a 177% increase from a year earlier. Utilization rates across computing facilities averaged 71.4%. The country developed 52 intelligent computing facilities equipped with more than 10,000 accelerator cards each. Over 80,000 private 5G industry networks were active nationwide, with more than 26,000 projects integrating 5G and industrial internet technologies across China.
The electronic manufacturing sector also showed robust growth in production, revenue, and profit. Electronics value-added output climbed 14.8% year-over-year. Major electronic information companies generated 12.15 trillion yuan in revenue, up 17.8%, while their aggregate profit surged by 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. This earnings growth was driven by segments such as integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. Electronics output growth surpassed the overall industrial growth rate by 9.4 percentage points during this period.
Continued Expansion of Software and Internet Services
China’s software and IT service industries maintained steady growth alongside digital manufacturing, with sector revenue increasing by 9.5% in the first half of 2026. Revenue from software products grew by 6.9%, and IT services saw a 10.4% rise. Major internet firms reported a 10.1% increase in revenue, and their overall profit grew by 16.6% compared to the same period last year. Telecommunications business volume also expanded by 8.3% when adjusted for constant prices.
During the same period, China’s digital industry expanded at a faster pace than the overall economy, which grew by 4.7% according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Value added from sectors such as information transmission, software, and IT services grew by 10.7%. The digital industry in China spans electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software, IT services, and internet-related businesses, collectively generating trillions of yuan in revenue across the country in the first half of 2026.