China will accelerate the planning and construction of next-generation communication networks and computing power infrastructure to build an integrated space-air-ground information network, a senior industry official said at the 2026 China Internet Conference held in Beijing.
Zhong Zhihong, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that standing at the new historical starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), the internet industry must focus on building China into a strong and prosperous nation and foster new development advantages while stimulating market vitality to push the sector toward higher-quality development.
Zhong outlined four priorities for the sector’s development and called for strategic guidance to serve national modernization goals, urging strengthened planning for next-generation networks and computing power to provide solid support.
She stressed innovation-driven breakthroughs in basic research and core technologies to secure a proactive position in future technological and industrial competition while advocating integrated empowerment through deeper “AI+” and data-element applications to continuously expand new models and business scenarios.
Yang Jie, president of the Internet Society of China, said artificial intelligence is being integrated into all sectors of the economy and society at an unprecedented pace.
He identified four major trends: a transformation in connected objects, where AI agents are expected to surpass the global human population; the evolution of network architecture toward space-air-ground integration and converged computing-networking; the deep expansion of application scenarios across manufacturing, energy, and logistics, giving rise to new forms of intelligent economy; and a comprehensive upgrade in data supply, where high-quality datasets and synthetic data are forming a “data flywheel” that drives models and applications.
Yang noted that China’s internet industry is at a critical window of transitioning between old and new growth drivers, and urged the industry to seize the historic opportunities presented by AI while staying rooted in the real economy, driving innovation, strengthening collaboration, and upholding self-discipline.
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