China's AI Industry Value Surges 40 Percent

The value of China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry is expected to surpass 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, a 40 percent year-on-year increase, according to a research institution under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) revealed that China was home to more than 6,600 AI enterprises as of June 2026, representing 15 percent of the global total. CAICT stated that the country has developed a complete industrial system encompassing basic infrastructure, models and frameworks, and sector-specific applications. The applications segment accounted for 55 percent of the entire AI industry chain in 2025, growing 22 percent year-on-year. The basic segment contributed 38 percent and grew 59 percent, while the segment covering models and frameworks reached 7 percent with a 189 percent growth rate. The industry is highly concentrated in a few regions, with Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Shandong contributing over 80 percent of the national total, according to CAICT. Large AI models, AI agents, and AI chips are developing rapidly, while AI products are becoming increasingly diversified and their use is expanding into various traditional industries. CAICT has led the drafting of two industry standards to define the AI sector and identify AI enterprises, aiming to provide unified standards for industry statistics, policymaking, and business practices. China will continue to advance the ‘AI Plus’ initiative to promote the broad and deep integration of AI into various sectors and areas of the economy and society.