According to data released by SIC on July 12, the Chinese economy maintained its improvement momentum in the first half of 2026, with consumption recovering and high-tech sectors growing strongly.
SIC said that the offline consumer payment tracking index increased by 2.7% compared to the same period last year, while the number of visitors to traditional shopping centers increased by 5.7%.
Spending on electronic products increased by 9.5%, while spending on transportation and food services related to cultural and tourism activities increased by 6.1% and 4.9% respectively.
According to Mr. Xing Yuguan - a researcher at SIC, policies promoting domestic demand along with the improvement of supply and demand have contributed to supporting consumption, especially in the fields of culture, tourism and smart consumption.
In the technology sector, investment in advanced industries such as AI and humanoid robots increased by 118.4% compared to the same period last year in the first half of the year.
In addition, the value of bidding packages for digital infrastructure projects, including computing capacity infrastructure, increased by 23%.
Production and innovation activities also recorded positive results. The production activity index in industrial parks increased by 3.9%, while the number of patents granted related to emerging strategic industries increased by 15.6%.
