BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – During the first half 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. The sector’s total profit also saw a significant rise of 19.3%, reaching 1.79 trillion yuan. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reported an industry profit margin of 8.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous year. These figures encompass key segments of China’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
The dominant regional digital markets in China continued to lead the industry throughout the six months, with the top 10 provincial-level markets generating a combined revenue of 17.21 trillion yuan. Their revenue grew by 13.2% compared to the previous year, accounting for 83.1% of the entire country’s digital industry revenue. Additionally, these regions contributed to 87% of the sector’s overall revenue growth. Among the top digital hubs, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang remained prominent as major centers of China’s digital industry.
Faster growth was observed in Central China, surpassing the national digital industry average. Revenue in this region reached 2.86 trillion yuan, which is a 28.3% increase over the previous year. China’s infrastructure development for communication and computing services continued to expand in the first half, with 5.102 million 5G base stations installed by the end of June. The country also had 32.86 million 10G PON ports supporting gigabit network services, and the number of 5G RedCap base stations increased to 2.247 million.
Expansion of Computing Power and 5G Networks
China’s intelligent computing capacity during this period reached 2,185 EFLOPS measured in FP16, representing a 177% increase year-over-year. Overall utilization across computing facilities maintained at 71.4%. The country also established 52 intelligent computing centers, each deploying over 10,000 accelerator cards. More than 80,000 private 5G industry networks operated nationwide, with over 26,000 active projects combining 5G and industrial internet technologies across China.
The digital manufacturing segment experienced notable growth in production, revenue, and profits. The value-added output of China’s electronics industry increased by 14.8% compared to the previous year. Major electronic information manufacturers generated 12.15 trillion yuan in revenue, a 17.8% rise, while their combined profit surged by 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. Earnings growth was driven by sectors such as integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. During this period, electronics output growth outpaced overall industrial growth by 9.4 percentage points.
Software and Internet Services Continue to Grow
The software and IT services industry in China maintained steady expansion alongside digital manufacturing. Revenue in this sector increased by 9.5% in the first half of 2026. Software product sales rose by 6.9%, and revenue from information technology services advanced by 10.4%. Major internet companies reported a 10.1% increase in revenue, with their total profit rising by 16.6% compared to the same period last year. The telecommunications sector also saw an 8.3% growth in business volume when measured at constant prices.
Compared to China’s broader economy, which grew by 4.7% during the first half of 2026 according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the digital sector outpaced growth significantly. The industry’s segments include electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software, information technology services, and internet-related businesses. All these segments together generated trillions of yuan in revenue across China during the first half of the year.