Nation's AI rise seen boosting intelligent computing power

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence agents is fundamentally reshaping the computing infrastructure landscape, triggering an exponential surge in token consumption and propelling China's intelligent computing power to unprecedented heights, said a report released by US market research company International Data Corp and Chinese tech firm Inspur Information.

This technological leap comes as China doubles down on its broader industrial modernization strategy.

Gao Dongsheng, chief economist of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on Tuesday, "Manufacturing is the foundation of a nation and the bedrock of its strength."

Gao said China is committed to advancing intelligent, green and integrated development, continuously strengthening advanced manufacturing, enhancing the self-reliance and controllability of industrial and supply chains, and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone. These efforts, he added, are crucial for consolidating the foundation of the real economy and providing strong support for Chinese modernization.

Gao's remarks come as 2026 marks a pivotal year for advancing high-quality development in advanced manufacturing. To showcase these efforts, the "2026 Made in China Promotion Week" is being held to vividly demonstrate the innovative practices of various regions and departments in accelerating advanced manufacturing. The event aims to further promote and polish the "Made in China" brand and unite the whole of society to care for, support and dedicate themselves to a healthy and vibrant manufacturing sector.

Echoing this national focus on industrial upgrading, the IDC/Inspur report highlights how AI is becoming a core engine for this transformation. As the industry's first research report focusing on agent infrastructure, it reveals that AI agents are acting as a multiplier force, driving a massive increase in token consumption and significantly enhancing China's overall intelligent computing power.

IDC predicts a staggering global proliferation of active AI agents, projecting their numbers to skyrocket from 79.4 million in 2026 to 2.216 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of some 130 percent.

Between 2026 and 2030, the number of active AI agents in China is expected to grow at a CAGR of 151.2 percent.

This rapid expansion is driving an unprecedented demand for computing power. The report estimates that China's intelligent computing power scale will reach 2,576.5 exaflops this year, a year-on-year increase of 87.9 percent. By end-2030, this figure is expected to hit 10,524.3 exaflops. Consequently, the CAGR for intelligent computing power from 2025 to 2030 has been revised upward to 50.3 percent, up from the previous forecast of 46.2 percent.

Simultaneously, China's AI computing power market is poised for substantial financial growth. The market size is projected to reach $51.5 billion by end-2026, up 37 percent year-on-year, and is expected to climb to $150.1 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 31.8 percent from 2025 to 2030.

The report also notes that AI agents are changing the criteria for evaluating urban AI competitiveness. For the first time, the assessment incorporates agent application deployment, embodied intelligence industry layout, large model development and inference computing infrastructure as key indicators.

In the 2026 China AI City Index, which is part of the report, Beijing; Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, secured the top three positions. Beijing retains the top spot with its complete computing supply chain and strong base of AI enterprises. Hangzhou follows closely behind, relying on its AI innovation clusters and internet industry foundation.

The report concludes that the scaling of AI agents is not merely a technological shift, but a fundamental restructuring of AI computing, accelerating the transition from model capability evolution to large-scale application, and providing critical momentum for China's broader ambitions to build a modern industrial system.