BEIJING, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – During the first six months of 2026, China’s digital sector generated a total revenue of 20.71 trillion yuan, marking a 13.6% increase compared to the same period last year. The sector’s overall profit reached 1.79 trillion yuan, which is a 19.3% rise. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology indicated that the rate of revenue growth accelerated by 4.1 percentage points from the previous year. The profit margin for the industry stood at 8.6%, reflecting an increase of 0.7 percentage points.
The majority of the national digital industry’s revenue was generated by its largest provincial markets. The top 10 provincial-level areas collectively earned 17.21 trillion yuan, representing a 13.2% increase. These regions accounted for 83.1% of China’s total digital industry revenue and contributed 87% to the overall revenue growth. Among these major markets were Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. Central China saw digital industry revenue reach 2.86 trillion yuan, which is a 28.3% increase over the previous year.
Expansion in digital infrastructure also occurred during this period. As of the end of June, China had deployed 5.102 million 5G base stations. The country supported 32.86 million 10G PON ports capable of delivering gigabit network services. The number of 5G RedCap base stations reached 2.247 million. Additionally, computing power climbed to 2,185 EFLOPS using FP16 measurement, reflecting a 177% increase from the previous year. The overall utilization rate of computing facilities was 71.4%.
Digital infrastructure expands throughout China
China established 52 intelligent computing facilities by the end of June, each equipped with over 10,000 accelerator cards. Over 80,000 private 5G industry networks are operational across the country. Applications utilizing 5G and gigabit optical networks now span 94 major categories within the national economy. Furthermore, more than 26,000 active 5G and industrial internet projects are underway. Authorities reported that 1,260 classified 5G factories have been set up nationwide.
Digital manufacturing experienced faster growth in production and revenue during the first half of the year. The electronics industry’s value-added output increased by 14.8% compared to the previous year. Revenue among key electronic information manufacturers hit 12.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 17.8%. Their combined profit surged by 66% to 703.6 billion yuan. Strong contributions to this profit growth came from integrated circuits, computer manufacturing, and specialized electronic materials. The output growth in electronics surpassed the overall industrial growth rate by 9.4 percentage points.
Growth persists in software and IT services
The digital services segment in China continued to expand during the first half of 2026. The total telecommunications business volume increased by 8.3% at constant prices from the previous year. Revenue from software and information technology services grew by 9.5%. Within this, software product revenue rose by 6.9%, while IT services revenue advanced by 10.4%. Major internet firms posted a 10.1% rise in revenue and a 16.6% increase in total profit compared to the same period of 2025.
These digital industry figures reflect how technology-related services continued to outpace the broader economy’s growth. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy grew by 4.7% in the first half of 2026. The sectors of information transmission, software, and information technology services experienced a 10.7% increase in value added during this period. China’s digital industry encompasses electronic information manufacturing, telecommunications, software and IT services, and internet-related services, all of which are integral to the country’s wider digital economy.