AI Sector Reaches a New Scale
China's artificial intelligence industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, growing approximately 40% year-on-year, according to industry data cited by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and published by gov.cn on August 4, 2026. The milestone reflects the rapid integration of AI across manufacturing, services, smart cities, and consumer applications — positioning AI as one of China's most dynamic new-quality productive forces.
Generative AI Scaling Up
By end-2025, more than 611 generative AI services had completed regulatory filing in China, covering applications from industrial design and medical imaging to finance and content creation. This regulatory sandbox approach has enabled controlled but rapid deployment at scale.
Chinese Models Go Global
A notable development in early 2026: from February, Chinese AI models running on OpenRouter's cross-model API routing platform surpassed U.S. models in weekly call volume. By late March–early April, Chinese models held a stable 65%+ share of global weekly API calls — roughly 1.8 to 2.6 times the volume of U.S. models — driven by competitive pricing, strong benchmark performance, and broad developer adoption internationally.
Strategic Drivers
- Policy support: Made in China 2025, 14th Five-Year Plan innovation priorities, and AI development plans
- Industrial applications: AI-powered manufacturing, autonomous driving, smart healthcare, fintech
- Infrastructure: National computing power networks and data ecosystem development
- Export competitiveness: Cost advantages and open-source model strategies expanding overseas reach
What Comes Next
Despite U.S. export controls on advanced chips, Chinese firms have continued advancing through algorithmic innovation and efficient training. The AI sector is on a trajectory toward an estimated 3 trillion yuan by 2027, with AI increasingly embedded in every major industry as a core productivity multiplier.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology via english.gov.cn, August 4, 2026