China’s IPv6 Active Users Reach 869 Million
China has reached a major milestone in next-generation internet adoption, with active IPv6 users hitting 869 million as of December 2025, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The figure, published in the China IPv6 Development Report (2026) released at the 5th China IPv6 Innovation and Development Conference, represents 77.38% of all Chinese netizens — an 88.22% increase since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period in 2021.
A Decade of Accelerated Deployment
China’s push for IPv6 has been a multi-phase national strategy spanning two Five-Year Plan periods. The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) marked an accelerated deployment phase in which all eight major IPv6 development targets were exceeded, including user growth, traffic share, address allocation, and industry adoption metrics. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) had previously established the initial policy frameworks and infrastructure groundwork.
The results are visible across nearly every layer of China’s internet infrastructure. National backbone networks, metro networks, 4G and 5G mobile networks, and the Internet of Things have all been fully upgraded for IPv6 support. Over 700 “IPv6+” industry networks have been deployed nationwide, while 36 national IPv6 standards and 138 industry standards have been published.
Key Metrics Tell a Story of Rapid Growth
The report released at the conference, held on July 28 in Xiong’an New Area, Hebei Province, detailed several landmark achievements. By December 2025, IPv6 comprised 33.79% of total network traffic in China. Mobile network IPv6 traffic had reached 70.85%, a 311.68% increase from pre-2021 levels. Fixed network IPv6 traffic hit 32.38%, rising 714.01% over the same period. By June 2026, total IPv6 traffic share had climbed further to 34.55%.
China’s IPv6 address resources total 68,569 /32 blocks as of December 2025, accounting for 13.97% of globally allocated IPv6 addresses — the second-largest reserve worldwide, behind only the United States. This positions the country well for the explosive address demand expected from the Internet of Things and AI-driven services.
Infrastructure penetration has also reached near-universal levels. As of June 2026, the home gateway IPv6 opening rate stood at 98.41%, and carrier-customized home router IPv6 support reached 99.12%. IoT IPv6 connections have surged to 17.55 billion, underscoring the protocol’s role as the backbone of China’s expanding connected device ecosystem.
The New Frontier: AI and IPv6 Single-Stack Networks
The conference also served as a platform for discussing the next phase of China’s IPv6 strategy. Wu Hequan, chair of the IPv6 Scale Deployment and Application Expert Committee and a leading expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told China News Service that IPv6 is poised to become globally dominant before 2030. He highlighted the convergence of IPv6 with artificial intelligence, noting that IP addresses could eventually be defined down to the chip level, enabling more precise allocation of virtual computing resources and reducing latency.
Just days before the conference, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued the Deepening IPv6 Technology Innovation and Integration Application Implementation Plan (2026–2030), setting new targets of 900 million active IPv6 users and 38% traffic share by 2027, and 950 million users with 42% traffic share by 2030. The plan marks a strategic shift from IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack operation toward IPv6-only single-stack networks, with pilot programs beginning in Xiong’an New Area.
Strategic Implications
China’s IPv6 achievement carries significance beyond the numbers. As the world’s largest IPv6 market, the country’s adoption patterns influence global standards, equipment manufacturing, and protocol evolution. The protocol is positioned as a cornerstone of China’s “network power” strategy, underpinning priorities including 6G mobile networks, AI large model infrastructure, computing power networks, satellite internet, and the broader digital economy.
By building an indigenous IPv6 ecosystem encompassing domestic standards, equipment, and operational expertise, China is also reducing its reliance on IPv4 legacy systems and foreign-controlled address allocation. The country’s domestic IPv6 user penetration of 77.38% far exceeds the global average of approximately 43%, placing it among world leaders alongside India, Belgium, and Germany.
What to Watch For
The 2026–2030 implementation plan identifies 10 focus areas ranging from technology research and development to commercialization and security. Key milestones to watch include the transition from dual-stack to single-stack IPv6 networks, the success of the AI large model IPv6 capability enhancement initiative announced at the conference, and whether China can sustain its momentum as the technology landscape shifts toward 6G and satellite-based communications. The interim target of 900 million active users by 2027 will serve as an early indicator of whether the next phase of deployment stays on track.
With IPv6 now the dominant protocol within China’s internet ecosystem and mobile networks already operating at over 70% IPv6 traffic, the country has moved past the phase of quantitative accumulation. The focus now is on the qualitative leap — embedding IPv6 as the foundational layer for the intelligent internet of the future.