China News Service, October 20. The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the 20th on the development of industry and information technology in the first three quarters of 2026. Xie Cun, spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Administration Bureau, introduced at the meeting that the development of the information and communications industry was generally stable in the first three quarters of this year. The total telecommunications business volume in the first three quarters increased by 7.3% year-on-year, and Internet business revenue increased by 8.9% year-on-year from January to August. The development of the industry presents four characteristics.
Infrastructure capabilities have been steadily enhanced. 5.254 million 5G base stations have been built, 5G-A network coverage is gradually advancing, the number of 10G PON ports of Gigabit optical network has reached 33.4 million, and 10G optical network has been piloted in scenarios such as communities, factories, and campuses. In terms of computing power facilities, as of the end of September 2026, my country's intelligent computing power scale reached 2592EFLOPS, a year-on-year increase of 146%, which strongly supports the rapid development of my country's artificial intelligence industry.
The development vitality of the industry continues to be released. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, the three basic telecommunications companies, all rank among the top ten in the world in terms of revenue; 204,000 companies have been issued telecommunications business licenses, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%; the pilot program for expanding the opening up of value-added telecommunications services has been steadily implemented. By the end of September, the number of foreign-invested telecommunications companies has reached 3,455, an increase of 25% over the same period last year. A commercial trial of satellite Internet of Things business was organized, and two private companies were approved to carry out relevant pilot business.
Breakthroughs in key technology research and development were achieved. Actively carry out 6G technology trials, promote the optimization and maturity of key technologies, and lay a solid foundation for the development of 6G technology sources and international standards. Guide the establishment of the ION-2030 (intelligent optical network) promotion group, publish relevant technical reports at the ITU, and accelerate research on next-generation optical network standards for 2030 and the future.
The scope of converged applications continues to expand. Deeply implement the 5G application "Sail" action upgrade plan, issue the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Industrial Internet", orderly carry out industrial 5G independent private network pilots, and continue to promote 5G and industrial Internet to empower thousands of industries. At present, 5G has been integrated into all 97 major categories of the national economy, and the industrial Internet has covered all 41 major industrial categories. More than 26,000 industrial 5G private networks and 1,260 5G factories have been built.
Xie Cun said that in the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council and the spirit of the National Advanced Manufacturing Conference, and strive to promote the quality and upgrading of the information and communication industry.
The first is to stabilize investment. Seize the opportunity of building a new generation of communication networks, plan and implement a number of strategic, leading, and breakthrough major engineering projects, and systematically build and strengthen the four networks of basic, spatial, international, and integrated. Implement special actions to improve broadband quality, promote gigabit upgrades and launch of 10 gigabit, accelerate the expansion and quality improvement of computing power facilities, and consolidate the network and computing power base for the development of advanced manufacturing.
The second is to focus on innovation. Proactively plan for 6G technological innovation, strengthen the construction of new generation communication network standard systems, deepen 5G and industrial Internet application innovation, promote the integration and innovation of information communications and artificial intelligence, and the integration and empowerment of industrial Internet and artificial intelligence, build high-level urban pilot projects for the integration and application of "5G + industrial Internet", and deeply empower advanced manufacturing.
The third is to promote opening up. Support more qualified enterprises to apply for commercial trials of satellite IoT services, and timely study to further expand the pilot program for opening up value-added telecommunications services.
