National Bureau of Statistics: In the next stage, the “Artificial Intelligence +” campaign will be implemented in depth to focus on building an emerging pillar industry

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Sun Xiao, chief statistician of the Department of Industry of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the industrial production data for July 2026. In July, the country's industrial production was generally stable, the share of the equipment manufacturing industry continued to rise, new momentum accelerated growth, industrial enterprise exports maintained rapid growth, and the industrial economy showed a trend of new momentum and an excellent structure. In the next stage, it is necessary to continue to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, thoroughly implement the “Artificial Intelligence +” campaign, focus on building emerging pillar industries, continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and solidly promote the high-quality development of the industrial economy.

The original text is as follows:

The industrial economy is generally stable and the contribution of new momentum continues to increase

——Sun Xiao, chief statistician of the Department of Industry of the National Bureau of Statistics, interprets industrial production data for July 2026

In July, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, various departments in all regions earnestly implemented more active and promising macroeconomic policies. The overall industrial production in the country was stable, the share of the equipment manufacturing industry continued to rise, new momentum accelerated growth, exports of industrial enterprises maintained rapid growth, and the industrial economy showed a trend of new momentum and improved structure.

Industrial production is generally stable, with strong support from new momentum. In July, the value added of industries above the national scale increased 4.5% year-on-year, and 0.11% month-on-month after excluding seasonal factors. As the main body of industry, the value added of the manufacturing industry increased by 5.5%, and the growth rate was 1.0 percentage point higher than that of industries of all sizes. The contribution of new momentum to the industrial economy continues to increase. According to preliminary estimates, in January-July, the contribution rate of new energy sectors represented by high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing to the growth in value added of industries above scale was about 50%, an increase of about 3 percentage points over the first half of the year, and the leading role continued to increase.

The share of the equipment manufacturing industry continues to rise, and the quality of the industrial structure is improving. In July, the value added of the equipment manufacturing industry above scale increased by 12.3% year on year, 1.3 percentage points faster than the previous month; value added accounted for 38.2% of all industries above scale, an increase of 2.6 percentage points over the previous year, and the role of “ballast stone” was further highlighted. The value added of all eight industries in the equipment manufacturing industry increased. Among them, the electronics industry grew by 19.1%, 3.4 percentage points faster than the previous month, contributing 43.7% to the growth rate of industries above the entire scale, ranking first among all major industries; the railway, ship, aerospace, instrumentation, and special equipment industries achieved double-digit growth, with growth rates of 13.6%, 13.3%, and 12.6% respectively; and the general equipment, electrical machinery, automobile and metal products industries, which maintained a high growth rate of 9.5%, 8.8%, 8.7%, and 7.3% respectively. High-end equipment products are developing steadily, and production of railway locomotives, steam turbines for power plants, civil steel ships, medical equipment and equipment increased by 90.2%, 82.6%, 33.5%, and 26.1% respectively; electrification transformation continues to advance, and production of products such as electric vehicles and new energy vehicles increased by 33.6% and 29.9% respectively, driving lithium-ion batteries to grow by 58.8%.

The growth of the high-tech manufacturing industry is accelerating, and high-quality development is focusing on the new trend. In July, the value added of large-scale high-tech manufacturing increased 16.9% year-on-year, 2.8 percentage points faster than the previous month. From an industry perspective, the added value of industries such as integrated circuit manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing, special equipment manufacturing for the electronics industry, and manufacturing of special electronic materials increased by 109.3%, 38.3%, 34.8%, and 30.8%, respectively. In terms of products, artificial intelligence has driven production of products such as sensors, memory chips, electronic components, and optical fibers to increase by 35.3%, 30.2%, 23.4%, and 21.1% respectively; the robotics field is developing rapidly, and production of products such as industrial robots and robot speed reducers increased by 30.2% and 22.7%, respectively.

The growth of the digital product manufacturing industry has accelerated markedly, and the intelligent transformation is improving steadily. In July, the value added of large-scale digital product manufacturing increased 17.3% year-on-year, 3.5 percentage points faster than the previous month. From an industry perspective, the added value of industries such as electronic components and equipment manufacturing, smart equipment manufacturing, and computer manufacturing increased by 24.7%, 15.1%, and 10.9%, respectively. In terms of products, production of electronic products such as smart bracelets, displays, and hard disk memories increased by 100.0%, 21.3%, and 12.1% respectively; production of intelligent production equipment products such as 3D printing equipment, industrial automatic adjustment instruments and control systems, and industrial control computers and systems increased by 65.7%, 41.2%, and 30.3%, respectively.

Exports of industrial products have maintained double-digit growth, and international competitiveness continues to increase. In July, large-scale industrial enterprises achieved export delivery value of 1.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.4% over the previous year, maintaining double-digit growth. Among them, the export delivery value of the automobile and electronics industries increased by 41.2% and 8.4% respectively, contributing 25.8% and 30.7% respectively to the increase in export delivery value of industries of all sizes; the petroleum processing, non-ferrous, railway, ship and aerospace industries grew rapidly, with growth rates of 40.7%, 25.4%, and 25.2%, respectively.

Overall, in July, the industrial economy overcame the effects of short-term factors such as phased high temperatures and rainfall during the flood season, and maintained an overall steady and positive development trend. At the same time, it is also important to note that the external environment is complex and changing, the industrial economy still faces many difficult challenges in the process of converting old and new kinetic energy. Problems such as insufficient effective demand, poor production and marketing connections, and high pressure on the capital turnover of enterprises in some industries are still prominent. In the next stage, it is necessary to continue to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, thoroughly implement the “Artificial Intelligence +” campaign, focus on building emerging pillar industries, continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and solidly promote the high-quality development of the industrial economy.

This article was compiled from the official website of the “National Bureau of Statistics”. Zhitong Finance Editor: Liu Jiayin.