China’s AI Computing Power Surges 177% in One Year
China’s intelligent computing power scale reached 2,185 EFLOPS (FP16) as of the end of June 2026, a 177% year-on-year increase from 788 EFLOPS in June 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The announcement, made at a State Council Information Office press conference on July 20 and published in People’s Daily, underscores China’s accelerating push to dominate artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The near-tripling of AI-dedicated computing capacity in just one year positions China firmly as the world’s second-largest holder of computing power, with more than 80% of smart computing capacity now concentrated in eight national computing hubs spanning ten clusters nationwide.
Background: A National Computing Strategy
The explosive growth is the direct result of China’s “East-West Computing Transfer” (东数西算) project, launched in 2022, which redirects compute-intensive workloads from energy-constrained eastern provinces to resource-rich western regions. Over 70 computing power corridors have been built around national hub nodes in the past two years, with network performance between hubs improving by 10%, according to MIIT. The national computing facility overall rack rate has reached 71.4%, indicating improved utilization efficiency across the country’s data centers, as Guangming Online reported.
Infrastructure at Scale
Beyond raw computing power, China’s digital infrastructure continues to expand rapidly. As of June 2026, the country had deployed 5.102 million 5G base stations nationwide and 32.86 million 10GPON ports with gigabit network service capabilities, according to the MIIT press conference coverage by CNR (央广网). These figures illustrate the breadth of connectivity underpinning China’s AI ambitions.
The regional distribution of intelligent computing reflects the strategy’s early success: East China accounts for 55.9% of smart computing capacity, West China 32.6%, Central China 10.6%, and Northeast China 0.9%. The substantial western share — nearly a third — demonstrates meaningful progress in shifting computing infrastructure westward as planned.
Industrial Transformation
The surge in AI computing power is translating into real economic impact. Over 30% of large-scale manufacturing enterprises have now adopted AI technologies, with applications spreading from the internet sector into manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and transportation. Global downloads of Chinese open-source AI models have exceeded 100 billion times, signaling the international reach of China’s AI ecosystem.
In “AI factories” across the country — facilities described by industry executives as plug-and-play computing environments — domestically manufactured AI servers are being deployed at scale. This push for domestic hardware comes partly in response to U.S. export restrictions on advanced semiconductors, adding a geopolitical dimension to China’s infrastructure buildout.
“Computing power should not be seen merely as a digital foundation — like water or electricity,” said Prof. Li Jingjing, Director of CSTCloud Department at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in an earlier media interview. “In the AI era, the key to making it a true digital backbone is building unified systems for technology, service, and allocation to efficiently supply a large market.”
Geopolitical Dimensions
China’s 177% growth rate in intelligent computing far outpaces general computing power expansion, signaling a decisive national shift toward AI-optimized infrastructure. The data underscores Beijing’s determination to maintain competitiveness in the global AI race despite semiconductor export controls imposed by the United States and its allies.
Computing power prices have been rising due to surging demand from large language models and generative AI applications, prompting market-based solutions such as computing power leasing and trading platforms. MIIT has announced plans to issue computing power standard system construction guidelines, including market pricing standards, to promote orderly industry development.
Looking Ahead
As of April 2026, 84 green electricity direct-connection projects had been approved for computing centers, with a total installed capacity of 3,259 MW, indicating a parallel push toward sustainable, energy-efficient AI computing. The integration of renewable energy with computing infrastructure will be a key factor as China balances its AI ambitions with carbon neutrality goals.
With intelligent computing capacity nearly tripling in just twelve months, the trajectory is clear: China is building AI infrastructure at an unprecedented pace. The question now is how this raw computational power will translate into breakthroughs in foundation model development, industrial applications, and long-term technological leadership.