According to Xinhua, the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), a research agency under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), forecasts that the scale of the country's AI industry will exceed 1,200 billion yuan (about 176.7 billion USD) in 2026, an increase of 40% compared to the previous year.
CAICT said that as of June 2026, China has more than 6,600 AI businesses, accounting for about 15% of the total number of AI businesses globally. This country has formed a relatively complete AI ecosystem, from computing infrastructure, models and software frameworks to specialized applications.
In the AI industry chain in 2026, the application sector accounted for the largest proportion with 55%, an increase of 22% compared to the previous year. AI platform infrastructure accounted for 38%, an increase of 59%, while AI models and software frameworks accounted for 7% but recorded growth of up to 189%.
China's AI industry is currently mainly concentrated in Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Shandong, accounting for more than 80% of the total industry size.
The Academy also said that fields such as large-scale AI models, AI Agents, and AI chips are developing rapidly, and AI is increasingly being applied in traditional industries.
In addition, CAICT has chaired the development of two industry standards on the definition of the AI field and criteria for identifying AI enterprises to unify the basis for statistics, policy planning and business operations.
Xinhua said that China will continue to implement the "AI Plus" initiative, promoting deeper AI integration into economic and social fields.
