China's digital economy is becoming a more visible driver of high-quality growth, moving beyond headline figures to play a deeper role in industrial upgrading, urban governance, public services and international exchanges.
"Developing the digital economy is a strategic choice to seize the opportunities brought by a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation," said Wang Jingtao, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing on July 2.
Data from the National Data Administration showed that the added value of China's digital economy reached 49 trillion yuan ($7.22 trillion) in 2025, accounting for about 35 percent of its GDP. Notably, the added value of core digital economy industries is expected to exceed 14.7 trillion yuan, making up more than 10.5 percent of GDP.
According to classifications by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's digital economy covers five broad categories: digital product manufacturing, digital product services, digital technology applications, data factor-driven industries, and industries supported by digital efficiency improvements.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) makes it clear that the country will comprehensively advance the empowerment of the real economy through digital technologies, Wang added.
To deepen the integration of the digital and real economies, the senior official called for stronger efforts in key technologies and digital infrastructure, wider application of the "AI Plus" initiative across sectors, improved governance of generative AI and data security, and deeper international cooperation, including better digital services for foreigners in China.
Test cases
A key message from this year's conference was that digital development is increasingly being tested in the daily operation of cities, which have become the most concentrated, concrete and observable carriers of the digital economy.
According to the 2026 Global Digital Economy Cities Report released during the conference, five cities worldwide, including Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, New York and London are listed as leading cities in digital factors, citing their performance in digital infrastructure, digital industry leadership, innovation capacity, digital governance, low-carbon development and urban resilience, global connectivity, as well as resident experience and inclusiveness.
Beijing offers a case for how digital tools are entering public life. By the end of last year, the city had built 119 internet hospitals, supporting services including online appointment registration, prescription circulation and online medical insurance payments. In the transportation sector, through connected traffic signal control, the average non-stop pass rate within Beijing's Fifth Ring Road reached 76.7 percent. In addition, construction of sensing systems for underground power, gas and heating pipelines has also been largely completed, enabling digital operation and management.
"Digital technologies should not only support industrial development and urban governance, but also become tangible for residents, usable for businesses and accessible to society," the report stressed.
In healthcare, Beijing has built a unified cloud platform for medical imaging, breaking down barriers to image sharing among medical institutions above the secondary level. The platform has changed the traditional practice of patients carrying printed films between hospitals. Last year alone, it helped save more than 150 million yuan in film printing costs.
"Through high-standard efforts to build a comprehensive pilot zone for data factors and active early trials, Beijing has formed a batch of replicable and scalable 'Beijing experience' for global counterparts," said Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration.
Large-scale application
Beyond cities, AI agents are emerging as one of the most important areas where the digital economy is being applied to the real economy. This year, AI agents were included in the Government Work Report for the first time, as the tools push AI beyond systems that can "chat and analyze" toward what can really carry out tasks.
"The agent industry is entering a strategic window for large-scale application this year," said Han Xia, a senior official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, at a sideline of the conference.
Accelerating the evolution of agents from individual intelligence to collective intelligence, and from closed applications to open collaboration, is of great significance for seizing the opportunities in this window, Han said.
However, the interconnection and collaboration among agents from different platforms still face challenges, including unclear technical architecture and the urgent need to upgrade network infrastructure, she noted.
In response, this year's conference launched an experimental network for the agent internet and released the first batch of "agent factories", aiming to push AI from resource calling to task delivery.
For companies, the value of such technology depends on whether it can solve specific problems in real-world scenarios.
In the industrial sector, AI-powered "digital colleagues" are already being used in manufacturing and corporate operations. "AI agents are the new colleagues that accompany every single one of our staff in their daily work now," said Zhang Guimin, chairman of Lunan Pharmaceutical Group.
Zhang said AI agents can efficiently complete high-risk and high-intensity tasks in new drug research and development, shortening the R&D cycle by more than 30 percent. The company has independently developed more than 20 AI agents so far, with over 100 application scenarios covering R&D, quality management, production, sales, human resources, finance and e-commerce.
In consumer settings, AI agents are also being built into smart home products. Haier Smart Home's Xiaoyou agent, for example, can remember where household items are stored. After a user verifies a dedicated password, the corresponding drawer lights up automatically. During cooking, a range hood can detect when food in a pot is boiling and automatically lower the heat for simmering.
Dismantling barriers
China's digital economy push is also extending into cross-border services, as the country seeks to make digital systems easier for foreign visitors to use while helping Chinese businesses find overseas opportunities.
At this year's conference, a special campaign was launched to improve digital services for foreigners entering China in six key cities with relatively strong digital service foundations and large inbound visitor numbers: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Sanya.
The campaign aims to develop a group of landmark application scenarios in about one year, focusing on digital barriers foreign visitors may face in residence, healthcare, payment, tourism and public services.
Through pilot programs in key cities, the initiative is expected to help raise the overall level of inbound digital services nationwide and support the development of an interconnected, inclusive and mutually recognized digital service system.
The campaign follows a broader national policy push. According to an implementation guideline jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China and 10 other departments in February, China aims to significantly improve the internationalization and convenience of digital services for inbound tourists by 2027 and reach a leading international level by 2030.
For instance, Chengdu, the only city in central and western China included in the campaign, has introduced a range of measures to make digital services more accessible to foreign visitors.
In public transport, foreign bank cards can be used directly at bus and metro gates. Bilingual announcements now cover all metro trains and stations, while more than 400 stations have been equipped with multilingual translation devices.
"Being able to take the metro in Chengdu with a foreign bank card gives me peace of mind because it is a payment method I am familiar with," said a US tourist who had just enabled small-value password-free payment.
Chengdu has also expanded payment access for foreigners. The city has 4,914 cash self-service machines that accept foreign bank cards for renminbi withdrawals, while 67,000 merchants accept foreign cards. More than 40 e-wallets from 14 countries can now be used in the city, and 100,000 merchants support Alipay's tap-to-pay service.
In dining, shopping and entertainment areas, major chain brands such as Starbucks and Haidilao have achieved full bilingual digital service coverage. Eight most-loved sites by tourists, including Chunxi Road, Jiaozi Park and Kuanzhai Alley, have also largely achieved full bilingual menu coverage.
The digital economy's outward-facing role was also highlighted at the conference, with a key country digital economy cooperation demand list released to provide more targeted support for Chinese businesses expanding overseas through digital technologies.
Drawing on the integration of overseas Chinese networks and digital intelligence, Zhang Huaxie, vice-chairman of the China-Africa Cultural Promotion Association, has led a team to establish digital cooperation sites in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Zhang said China's blockchain traceability system and AI customer service have been introduced to a local business platform in Zimbabwe, which has not only improved the credibility of local agricultural and livestock products, but also trained local merchants in digital operations, helping cultivate local talent with digital business capabilities.
"Chinese technology going global is not a one-way export of products, but a two-way collaboration that takes into account both commercial returns and local industrial development," Zhang said.