Shanghai’s GDP approached 2.79 trillion yuan ($412 billion) in the first half of 2026, up 5.6 percent year-on-year at constant prices, according to data released by the municipal statistics bureau on Monday.
The growth rate is not only higher than the national average, but also exceeds Shanghai’s annual GDP growth in 2024 and 2025, which came in at 5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.
The primary industry saw its added value climb 0.9 percent year-on-year to about 3.58 billion yuan, while the secondary industry’s added value rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to nearly 569.7 billion yuan.
With the robust growth of the modern services sector encompassing finance, information transmission, software, information technology, leasing, and business services, the tertiary industry saw its half-year added value surge 5.9 percent on a yearly basis to over 2.2 trillion yuan, further consolidating its role as a major economic driver for Shanghai.
The information transmission, software, and information technology services sector has become a major highlight for Shanghai’s economic growth over the first six months of the year. The sector’s 9.1 percent year-on-year growth has been buttressed by the strong growth in sub-sectors such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuit design, and platform enterprises.
The ongoing World AI Conference in Shanghai serves as solid proof. In 2025, the industrial value of AI enterprises with a minimum annual sales revenue of 20 million yuan each totaled 600 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year spike of 39.5 percent. As of the first half of this year, Shanghai had completed the filing of 196 large AI models, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the national total.
AI has been defined as one of the three pioneering industries in Shanghai, along with integrated circuits and biomedicine. The output value of the three industries grew by 14.5 percent year-on-year in the first six months, with IC and AI manufacturing each reporting an annual growth rate of about 20 percent.
The output value of strategic emerging industries grew by 7.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year. Among these, output value for new energy vehicles spiked by 33.9 percent, new energy by 20.6 percent, and high-end equipment by 9.3 percent. Demand for products like satellites, rockets, high-end ships, and domestically produced large aircraft remained strong, according to the municipal statistics bureau.
Tanks to chinadaily.com.cn
Please visit:
Our Sponsor