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% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. Total profits also experienced growth, rising 19.3% to reach 1.79 trillion yuan. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the industry’s profit margin stood at 8.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than last year. These figures encompass key components of China’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
During this period, China’s leading regional digital markets maintained their dominance in industry activity. The top 10 provincial-level markets collectively achieved 17.21 trillion yuan in revenue, marking a 13.2% rise from the previous year. These regions accounted for 83.1% of the nation’s digital industry revenue and contributed to 87% of the overall sector growth. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang continued to be among the country’s primary digital hubs.
Growth in Central China outpaced the national average for the digital industry. The region’s revenue reached 2.86 trillion yuan, a 28.3% increase year-on-year. Infrastructure development in communication and computing also advanced throughout the first half. By the end of June, China had installed 5.102 million 5G base stations and supported 32.86 million 10G PON ports delivering gigabit network services. The number of 5G RedCap base stations grew to 2.247 million.
Expansion of Computing Power and 5G Infrastructure
China’s high-performance computing capacity reached 2,185 EFLOPS using FP16 measurement during this period, representing a 177% rise from the previous year. The overall utilization rate of computing facilities was 71.4%. Additionally, China established 52 intelligent computing centers with deployments exceeding 10,000 accelerator cards. Over 80,000 private 5G industry networks are now operational nationwide, with more than 26,000 active projects integrating 5G and industrial internet technologies across the country.
Strong growth was also evident in digital manufacturing, with increases in production, revenue, and profits. The electronics industry’s value-added output increased by 14.8% compared to last year. Major electronic information manufacturers generated 12.15 trillion yuan in revenue, up 17.8%, while their combined profit surged by 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. Contributions came from sectors such as integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. During this period, electronics production growth outpaced the overall industrial growth by 9.4 percentage points.
Growth in Software and Internet Services
The sector of software and information technology services continued its upward trend alongside digital manufacturing, with revenue increasing by 9.5% during the first half of 2026. Revenue from software products grew 6.9%, while IT services saw an increase of 10.4%. Leading internet firms reported a 10.1% rise in revenue, and their total profits grew 16.6% compared to the same period in the previous year. Additionally, the volume of telecommunications business expanded by 8.3% when calculated at constant prices.
During the first six months of 2026, China’s digital industry outpaced the broader economy, which grew by 4.7%, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. The sectors of information transmission, software, and information technology services contributed to a 10.7% growth in added value. The country’s digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software, information technology services, and internet-related businesses, all of which generated trillions of yuan in revenue in the first half of the year.