New Infrastructure Hits RMB2.98 Trillion in H1 2026; Intelligent Computing Up 177%, 5G Stations Top 5.05

The 15th Five-Year Plan outline calls for moderately advancing the construction of new infrastructure, shifting the focus to expanding innovation and improving quality, and moving toward integrated coordination and deep digital-intelligent application. New infrastructure covers strategically oriented and application-supporting areas such as major science and technology infrastructure, information and communication networks, and computing power networks.

Credit resources continue to tilt toward the technology sector. By end-Q2 2026, outstanding loans to technology-oriented small and medium enterprises in both domestic and foreign currencies stood at RMB4.15 trillion, up 20.1% year-on-year; loans to high-tech enterprises reached RMB21.53 trillion, up 14.6%. In the first five months of 2026, new local government special bonds allocated to new infrastructure exceeded RMB17.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of over 35%; those for forward-looking and strategic emerging industry infrastructure approached RMB11.2 billion, up over 80%. In the first half of 2026, total financing by A-share new infrastructure-related companies topped RMB48 billion, up more than 8.5-fold, accounting for nearly 11% of all A-share financing in the period.

By end-June 2026, China's intelligent computing power reached 2,185 EFLOPS, a year-on-year increase of 177% and more than 35% higher than end-2025. The overall rack utilization rate of national computing facilities hit 71.4%. In the past two years, over 70 major computing corridors were built, with inter-hub network performance improving by 10%. In the first five months of 2026, national digital industry revenue reached RMB16.7 trillion, up 13% year-on-year; software business revenue exceeded RMB6.2 trillion, up 10.3%. The quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhang IV" set a new world record in optical quantum information technology.

In the first half of 2026, normalised deployment launches for domestic low-orbit broadband constellations proceeded, with in-orbit satellites continuing to expand, ground support facilities accelerating their rollout, and the integration verification of space-ground integrated networks advancing in an orderly manner. The "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Capacity Building in the Information and Communication Industry to Support Low-Altitude Infrastructure Development" issued in February 2026 called for no less than 90% coverage of the ground mobile communication network for national low-altitude public air routes by 2027. In May 2026, the new national drone airspace map was officially launched; Sichuan and other places piloted convenient "scan-to-fly" reporting for drones, while Shenzhen, Dongguan and other cities accelerated the deployment of drone take-off and landing points and test-flight bases.

By end-May 2026, total 5G base stations nationwide reached 5.053 million, a net increase of 214,000 from end-2025; 5G mobile phone users numbered 1.275 billion, a net rise of 70.77 million. By end-June, 5G base stations totaled 5.102 million, and "5G + industrial internet" projects under construction nationwide exceeded 26,000. The 5G-A network already covers 330 cities across China, with its user base surpassing 30 million, and continues to penetrate into real-economy scenarios such as manufacturing, power, and ports.

In May 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved the use of 6 GHz band frequencies for 6G trials, supporting 6G technology tests in certain areas, as well as technology research and development, and test verification.

More than 420 listed companies in the A-share market are positioned in core new infrastructure tracks including computing power, information and communication networks, satellite internet, data infrastructure, and low-altitude infrastructure. Of these, 169 companies had disclosed their performance forecasts for the first half of 2026. The combined net profit of these 169 companies in the first half reached nearly RMB96.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of over 59%. Net profit in the computing power and data infrastructure sectors both surged more than 100% year-on-year in the first half, while information and communication network net profit growth exceeded 50%.