On September 15, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly released the Development Plan for the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period (2026-2030), setting out a roadmap for the industry over the next five years. The plan sets a target for enterprises above designated size in China's electronic information manufacturing sector to generate more than 30 trillion yuan (roughly US$4.2 trillion at current exchange rates) in annual revenue by 2030, while raising the industry's R&D intensity to 3.5%. It aims to produce a cluster of technologies and products with competitive strengths in key areas such as integrated circuits, advanced computing, consumer electronics, basic electronics and energy electronics, and to cultivate a group of globally competitive world-class enterprises.

Electronic information manufacturing is one of the largest sectors in China's industrial system and has one of its longest supply chains, spanning chips, finished equipment, terminals, materials and manufacturing tools — long seen as a pillar supporting China's shift from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing power. This year's government work report explicitly listed the integrated circuit industry as one of the emerging pillar industries to be built up as a priority. Zhou Feng, a MIIT official involved in interpreting the plan, said that during the 2026-2030 period China would take "extraordinary measures" to achieve decisive breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas such as integrated circuits, aiming for substantive progress toward self-sufficient, controllable supply chains.

The plan is organized around three broad directions — "strengthening industrial foundations," "enhancing the competitiveness of finished electronic products and systems," and "cultivating new growth points for the industry" — under which it sets out nine special task columns in total. Under industrial foundations: upgrading electronic components and materials to higher-end levels, improving self-sufficiency in specialized electronic equipment and measuring instruments, and researching and developing key photonics technologies and products. Under finished-product and system competitiveness: systematically upgrading the advanced computing industry, and innovation in key consumer electronics products. Under new growth points: industrializing energy electronics, researching and applying spatiotemporal information technology, achieving systematic breakthroughs in key AI chip and terminal technologies, and fostering innovation in electronics for other industry sectors — nine special columns in all, forming the core framework for implementing the plan.

In integrated circuits, the plan calls for pursuing breakthroughs across the entire supply chain, prioritizing the development of high-end chip products such as high-performance processors, high-density memory, and highly reliable analog and mixed-signal chips, while simultaneously upgrading chip manufacturing capability, accelerating the development and application of advanced packaging and testing technologies, and speeding up the development of electronic design automation (EDA) tools and IP cores — foundational software and design capabilities meant to close China's long-standing gaps in high-end manufacturing equipment, materials and key tools for its chip industry.

On advanced computing and artificial intelligence, the plan calls for systematically strengthening the competitiveness of the advanced computing industry. Amid a new wave of innovation demand driven by breakthroughs in large-model technology, it seeks to coordinate development of supporting technologies including AI acceleration chips, high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging, high-speed optical interconnects and liquid cooling, and to systematically advance breakthroughs in AI chip and terminal core technologies — aiming to give China control over more of the core, self-sufficient links in the global race for AI computing power.

On emerging fields, the plan calls for deepening the large-scale application of the BeiDou satellite navigation system, pushing BeiDou from industry-specific use toward mass adoption, while making forward-looking deployments in satellite internet, expanding direct-to-device satellite terminal applications, and improving the terminal industry ecosystem. Notably, a companion plan MIIT released around the same time — the Development Plan for the Information and Communications Industry During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period — for the first time writes "6G pre-research" into a five-year industry plan, designating 2026-2028 as a "window preparation period" for technology verification, prototyping and standards proposals, echoing the electronic information manufacturing plan and jointly outlining China's industrial layout for next-generation communications and aerospace information.

Analysts say the plan comes against a backdrop of the United States and other Western countries continuing to tighten export controls on semiconductors to China in recent years, including expanding restrictions on high-end chipmaking equipment, advanced-node chips and related software tools — pressure that has pushed China to accelerate self-sufficient substitution in key links and build more resilient supply chains. At the same time, global AI competition continues to intensify, with computing power, chips and large-model capability becoming a central battleground of great-power technology rivalry. Through this top-level plan, Chinese authorities hope to direct capital, talent and industrial-policy resources toward priority areas, and avoid duplicative competition and scattered resources.

Notably, capital spending in China's semiconductor industry has already shown a marked acceleration recently. According to research firm CINNO Research, total investment in China's semiconductor industry (including Taiwan) reached 800.2 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, up a sharp 72.4% year-on-year, with wafer fabrication investment alone reaching 452.7 billion yuan, up 93.4% and accounting for nearly 60% of total industry investment, as AI memory chip and automotive-grade power semiconductor production lines were launched in large numbers; the number of 12-inch wafer fabs in China is projected to grow from 62 at the end of 2024 to more than 70 by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, customs data show China's integrated circuit exports totaled US$216 billion from January to July this year, up 99.5% year-on-year and already exceeding the full-year 2025 total of US$201.9 billion. Analysts say these figures underscore that the industrial upgrading goals set out in the plan are not built on thin air, but rest on an already-accelerating trend of industry investment and capacity expansion in recent years.

The plan also stresses strengthening the industry's capacity for sustainable development, including a green, low-carbon transition, a more secure supply chain system, and deeper international cooperation and openness. Market observers say the 30-trillion-yuan revenue target represents a substantial leap from the industry's current scale, implying that supporting policies, fiscal and tax incentives, and regional industrial planning will continue to be stepped up. MIIT and the NDRC are expected to follow up with more detailed implementation rules and targeted support measures to ensure the plan's goals are met in phases.

As of now, the plan has not published specific annual breakdown targets or local implementation plans, and MIIT says it will work with relevant departments to establish a tracking and evaluation mechanism and release updates on implementation in due course. Industry observers broadly agree the plan sends a clear signal about the direction of China's electronic information manufacturing industry over the next five years, but whether the 3.5% R&D-intensity target and the 30-trillion-yuan revenue target are ultimately met will depend on multiple factors, including how the external export-control environment evolves, the pace of domestic technological breakthroughs, and global market demand.