Surge marks a stark contrast with the same period last year, when AI had yet to trigger the massive global data centre buildout
China’s major chip manufacturers saw their profits skyrocket a staggering 2,579.5 per cent in the first half of 2026, fuelled by unprecedented demand for artificial intelligence and computing power, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The state agency attributed the surge to accelerated integration of AI across various fields, which in turn generated massive demand for computing power, according to Yu Weining, chief statistician of the NBS department overseeing industrial statistics.
Computing demand also pushed the broader electronics industry’s profits up by 97 per cent year on year, according to Yu, who added that electronics also served as a key driver of the rapid growth of total industrial profits. During the first half, profits for China’s major industrial enterprises – those with an annual revenue of over 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) – grew 18.7 per cent to 4 trillion yuan.
The data marked a stark contrast with the same period last year, when AI had yet to trigger the massive global data centre buildout. In the first half of 2025, industrial profits dropped 1.8 per cent to 3.4 trillion yuan, while electronics industry profit only grew 3.5 per cent year on year. The NBS did not separately disclose the chip manufacturing industry’s profits during last year’s first half period.
China is undergoing a pivotal shift in its industrial landscape, as the global AI frenzy triggers explosive demand for high-performance computing and memory chips.
The country’s chip exports also surged amid the global AI infrastructure buildout. Data released by NBS earlier this month showed that China’s integrated circuit production volume grew by 23 per cent year on year in the first six months, reaching nearly 280 billion units. On average, the country was manufacturing over 1.5 billion chips every day.