China's AI industry thrives with over 5,300 enterprises

BEIJING - China's artificial intelligence sector has seen robust growth, with the number of enterprises exceeding 5,300 as of September, accounting for 15 percent of the global total, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

The industry's scale exceeded 900 billion yuan ($126.7 billion) in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 24 percent, the data showed.

The country's AI sector has established a complete industrial chain spanning the foundational infrastructure, model architecture and industry applications. In 2024, the revenue of these three segments increased 54 percent, 18 percent and 13 percent year-on-year, respectively, according to the academy.

It added that smart hardware represented by AI-powered phones, computers and cars is experiencing rapid growth.

China has made sustained efforts to promote the digital economy's transformation into a smart economy and an intelligent society. Earlier this year, the country published a set of guidelines on deeply implementing the "AI Plus" initiative, aiming to strengthen AI supportive infrastructure and accelerate the integration of AI technology across economic and social domains.