New Growth Drivers Account for Over 50% of Industrial Growth; High-Tech Manufacturing Up 16.9% in July

Since the beginning of 2026, China's economy has shown a trend of shifting to new growth drivers and improving its structure. In the first seven months, new growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing and the digital economy contributed over 50% to the growth of industrial output above designated size. Industrial enterprise profits continued to improve, supporting the faster formation of the domestic circulation system. During the same period, the 'two major' projects were steadily advanced, with traditional infrastructure and new infrastructure effectively connected. Investment in areas related to the 'six networks' grew rapidly, and the deployment of computing power networks and next-generation communication networks accelerated. From January to July, investment in internet and related services grew by over 40% year on year, while investment in optical fiber manufacturing grew by nearly 30%.

The driving effect of government investment continued to show, with ultra-long-term special treasury bonds being precisely allocated and the large-scale equipment renewal policy being optimized and implemented. From January to July, investment in equipment and tools purchases grew by 9% year on year, pulling overall investment growth by 1.5 percentage points. Enterprises increased investment in innovation and R&D, with investment in intellectual property products rising 9.1%, accounting for 14.8% of total investment, up 2.1 percentage points from the same period in 2025. Green manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, and smart manufacturing continued to gain momentum, export competitiveness strengthened, and the integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services accelerated. In July, the value added of high-tech manufacturing above designated size grew by 16.9% year on year, with output of AI-related products such as sensors and memory chips maintaining growth of over 30%. In the first seven months, investment in high-tech industries grew by 5% year on year, while investment in information services and R&D design services maintained relatively high growth.

The economy still faces challenges such as insufficient effective demand, low-price competition in some sectors, and local government debt pressure. Relevant policies focus on enhancing the resilience of industrial and supply chains, pushing industries up the value chain, improving the long-term mechanism for expanding effective investment, advancing the implementation of major projects under the 15th Five-Year Plan, and accelerating construction of key areas such as the 'six networks'. At the same time, efforts will strengthen the support of new growth drivers for corporate revenue and profits, guide social capital toward new tracks such as new infrastructure, new energy, artificial intelligence, and biomanufacturing, promote the release of the driving effects of the digital economy and green transformation, and form synergy between investment policies and reform measures. The issuance and use of local special bonds will be accelerated, and the implementation of new policy-based financial instruments will be advanced.