China's AI Core Industry Exceeded 1.2 Trillion Yuan in 2025, MIIT Says, Pushing AI Into Manufacturing

At an October 19 State Council Information Office briefing on accelerating technology-empowered commerce, MIIT science and technology department director Wei Wei said China's artificial-intelligence core industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, with intelligent products and services spreading fast: AI phones in pockets, intelligent-connected cars on roads and humanoid robots entering factories. Under the "AI + Manufacturing" special action rolled out with six other departments, more than 1,000 high-value application scenarios were distilled across 20 industries such as steel, autos and pharma, with 285 typical cases and over 5,000 enterprise matchmaking sessions; AI-technology adoption among above-scale manufacturers passed 30%. The ministry built more than 500 high-quality datasets, promoted over 100 industrial agents, issued 100-plus national and industry standards and an agent-interconnection protocol, and released smartphone, PC, TV and glasses terminal grades with over 100 products meeting assistive-level requirements and over 100 million smart terminals shipped in the first half of 2026. China now has over 6,600 AI enterprises, a 60-billion-yuan national AI industry fund, and the AtomGit open-source community; next steps stress technology supply, product refresh and production-to-consumption links.

Source: Zhonghong Net / MIIT press conference, Oct 19, 2026 | 2026-10-19