China’s Intelligent Computing Power Surges 177% Year-on-Year
China’s intelligent computing power has reached 2,185 EFLOPS (exaflops, or 100 quadrillion floating-point operations per second) as of the end of June 2026, representing a staggering 177% year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The announcement, made by MIIT spokesperson and Director of the Information and Communication Administration Bureau Xie Cun at a State Council press conference on July 20, underscores the breakneck pace of China’s AI infrastructure buildout.
Context: The Infrastructure Behind the Numbers
The 177% growth in intelligent computing capacity is part of a broader expansion of China’s digital infrastructure. As of June 2026, the country had deployed 5.102 million 5G base stations nationwide, along with 32.86 million 10G PON ports capable of gigabit network service, as reported by China News Service. The national computing facility overall rack utilization rate reached 71.4%, indicating strong demand for the expanded capacity.
These figures were released alongside China’s broader industrial data for the first half of 2026. The industrial output value above designated size grew 5.4% year-on-year, with industry contributing over 35% to economic growth, according to Worker’s Daily.
AI Adoption Accelerates Across Manufacturing
The surge in computing power is translating into real-world adoption. MIIT data shows that over 30% of large-scale manufacturing enterprises have now adopted AI technology. Global cumulative downloads of Chinese AI open-source large models have exceeded 10 billion, reflecting the growing international reach of China’s AI ecosystem.
Industrial robot production grew 28% year-on-year, while service robot production rose 11.9% year-on-year, signaling robust demand across both industrial and consumer segments. The CCTV News report on the announcement highlighted that 5G and gigabit optical network applications have now been integrated into 94 national economic sectors, with over 26,000 “5G+ Industrial Internet” projects under construction and 1,260 5G factories established.
Digital Economy Drives Industrial Growth
China’s digital economy continues to be a major growth engine. In the first five months of 2026, digital industry revenue reached 16.7 trillion yuan (approximately $2.3 trillion), up 13% year-on-year. Telecom business volume grew 7.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2026.
Wang Weiming, Director of MIIT’s Equipment Industry Division I, noted that large-scale equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing value-added grew 9.3% and 13.3% year-on-year respectively, as reported by C114 Communications Network. The MIIT official statement emphasized that despite a complex external environment and persistent domestic structural challenges, China’s industrial system maintains “obvious advantages of completeness and strong resilience.”
Strategic Implications
China’s computing power industry has evolved through four major stages, from initial supercomputer research in the 1970s to the current “intelligent leadership” phase driven by AI large models. The 2026 Government Work Report included “super-large intelligent computing clusters” and “computing-power-electricity synergy” as new infrastructure projects, signaling continued policy support.
The 177% growth positions China as a formidable competitor in the global AI infrastructure race. The country’s computing market reached 835.1 billion yuan in 2025, growing over 30%, and projections suggest intelligent computing could reach 8,693 EFLOPS by 2031 — a compound annual growth rate of 46.2%.
What to Watch
The rapid expansion raises important questions about energy consumption and environmental impact, as well as the risk of regional overcapacity. China also continues to face challenges in high-end chip manufacturing amid ongoing export control tensions. However, the trajectory is clear: intelligent computing power is the foundation upon which China is building its AI-driven economic future, and the investments show no signs of slowing.
With the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) explicitly prioritizing digitalization and intelligent development, and the recent 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference showcasing breakthroughs in optical computing and embodied AI, China’s computing infrastructure buildout is entering a new phase — one that will shape the country’s technological competitiveness for years to come.