The national informatization "15th Five-Year Plan" is issued: penetration rate of applications such as intelligent agents to exceed 90% by 2030, with 6G commercialization to be launched in due course

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The "National Informatization 15th Five-Year Plan" has been issued, systematically setting out the task book, timetable and roadmap for informatization development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Recently, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued the "National Informatization 15th Five-Year Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). The Plan closely follows the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and relevant deployments for building a cyber power, and proposes that by 2030, China's informatization will have made major progress, with its role in advancing Chinese-style modernization becoming more prominent. The leading advantages of information infrastructure will be consolidated and expanded, a three-dimensional network system spanning land, sea, air and space will basically take shape, the new-generation communications network will be fully built, commercial use of sixth-generation mobile communications (6G) will be launched in due course, the national blockchain network will be basically completed, and the intelligent internet will be laid out and developed at an accelerated pace. The capacity for scientific and technological innovation in cyberspace will be significantly enhanced, the scientific and technological innovation system will be more sound, and breakthroughs will be made in key core technologies in key fields. The cyber industry ecosystem will flourish, digital technology and the real economy will be deeply integrated, and the comprehensive strength of cyber enterprises will be significantly enhanced. The level of digital, networked and intelligent application in the economy and society will reach a new stage, and the ability to empower economic and social development and governance will be markedly improved. Cybersecurity safeguards will be solid and strong, the system of laws and standards will be more complete, and the concept of a community with a shared future in cyberspace will be deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Overall, the Plan, centering on systematically and deeply advancing national informatization development, deploys 25 key tasks in 10 areas and 7 special columns.

12 main indicators, with the penetration rate of applications such as intelligent agents to exceed 90% in five years

The Plan lists 12 main indicators in a special column, all of which are anticipatory indicators. Among them, the largest increase is in the "penetration rate of applications such as new-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent agents," rising from 40% in 2025 to more than 90% in 2030, more than doubling in five years.

The remaining indicators include: the internet penetration rate rising from 80.1% to 85%; the number of 5G (including 5G-A) base stations per 10,000 people rising from 34 to 50; the share of IPv6 network traffic rising from 33.79% to 42%; the operating power usage effectiveness (PUE) of newly built large and ultra-large computing facilities falling from 1.25 to below 1.2; the added value of core industries of the digital economy as a share of GDP rising from 10.5% to 12.5%; the scale of cross-border e-commerce imports and exports growing from 2.84 trillion yuan to 3.5 trillion yuan; and the share of adults with advanced digital literacy and skills rising from 16.26% to 25%.

A relevant responsible official of the Cyberspace Administration of China, in answering reporters' questions on the Plan, said that the above indicators take into account both continuity with relevant indicators in the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Informatization Plan and fully reflect the forward-looking and representative nature of informatization development, effectively guiding all regions and relevant departments to advance informatization development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period with high quality.

Zhang Li, president of the China Center for Information Industry Development, stated in an interpretation article published on the official website of the Cyberspace Administration of China that the Plan lays out in a forward-looking manner the development of the intelligent internet, deepens the integrated development of artificial intelligence and information networks, promotes efficient collaboration among intelligent terminals and intelligent agents, and accelerates the expansion of new forms of the intelligent economy. He summarized the overall layout of the Plan as a "352" architecture: building 3 systems to comprehensively enhance informatization development capacity; raising the level in 5 aspects to give play to the driving and leading role of informatization; and strengthening 2 supports to focus on optimizing the environment for informatization development.

6G moves from "research" to "commercial use"

"Launching 6G commercial use in due course" is written into the 2030 goals. A comparison by The Paper's reporter found that the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Informatization Plan, issued in December 2021, deployed 6G only as "strengthening research on new network architectures and 6G, and accelerating R&D of key technologies such as the integration of terrestrial wireless and satellite and terahertz communications."

In the five years since, 6G technology R&D and standard development have been solidly advanced. The State Council Information Office disclosed at a press conference in January 2026 that 6G R&D has completed the first phase of technical trials, forming a reserve of more than 300 key technologies, and that the second phase of 6G technical trials has been launched.

In addition, in the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Information and Communications Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September 2026, the first of the key tasks is to build information infrastructure with appropriate forward-looking investment and deploy world-leading network facilities. It explicitly sets out advancing urban and hotspot area networks toward "dual ten-gigabit," launching 6G commercial use in due course, actively carrying out pilot construction of ten-gigabit optical networks, and gradually expanding ten-gigabit network coverage.

The Plan's deployment on network infrastructure also states that 5G and gigabit optical network deployment will be deepened and the development of 5G-A and ten-gigabit optical networks advanced; satellite internet construction and application will be accelerated, direct-to-satellite services for terminal devices developed, and the integrated development of satellite and terrestrial networks advanced; and the construction of international submarine and terrestrial cables will be strengthened to enhance international communications capacity. In terms of application infrastructure, a national blockchain network construction project will be implemented to consolidate the foundation of the value internet; the building of a nationally integrated computing network will be accelerated, coordinated development of computing, electricity and networks promoted, the layout of general computing, intelligent computing and supercomputing optimized, and forward-looking research and technological layout for space computing explored.

In Zhang Li's view, the new information infrastructure system is the "support": new information infrastructure such as the new-generation communications network and computing network is the foundational support for informatization development. The Plan proposes building a three-dimensional network infrastructure and makes clear deployments for building the new-generation communications network. It calls for building the national blockchain network, constructing a nationally integrated computing network, and improving integrated application infrastructure.

Consolidating industrial advantages in intelligent connected vehicles, drones and other fields

When deploying the building of a cyberspace science and technology innovation system, the Plan mentions, first, enhancing basic research and original innovation capacity. Basic theoretical research in computational mathematics, communications networks, data science and other fields will be strengthened. Second, breakthroughs will be made in key core technologies. Mature-process chips will be refined and advanced-process manufacturing capacity improved, and breakthroughs and application of technologies such as compute-in-memory, 3D integration and optoelectronic integration will be advanced. The integrated development of operating systems, software development toolchains and other areas with artificial intelligence will be promoted. Research on artificial intelligence theories and algorithms such as foundation models, brain-inspired intelligence and swarm intelligence will be advanced. R&D on new database architectures will be strengthened. Forward-looking layout will be made in communications technologies such as deep-space and deep-sea communications and new optical networks. Third, the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation will be promoted. Exploration will be made to build cyberspace technology innovation centers and industrial ecosystem centers, key common technology research will be strengthened, and the industrial ecosystem will be cultivated and expanded.

In terms of building a cyber industry ecosystem, the Plan's contents include cultivating new industries and new tracks, empowering the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries, and promoting the high-quality development of cyber enterprises, and it sets up a special column on the cyber industry ecosystem development project.

Zhang Li said that the cyber industry ecosystem is the "foundation." At present, China's cyber industry ecosystem construction continues to improve in quality and efficiency, the industrial foundation is constantly consolidated, and a collaborative pattern has initially taken shape. The Plan proposes consolidating industrial advantages in mobile communications, intelligent connected vehicles, drones and other fields, and cultivating technology products with international leadership in areas such as integrated circuits, new displays, artificial intelligence and blockchain. It calls for accelerating the industrial application of technologies such as quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence and 6G. The Plan specifies task measures for developing smart agriculture, promoting the "intelligent transformation, digital transformation and networked connection" of manufacturing, deepening the capacity expansion and quality improvement of the service industry, and vigorously promoting digital consumption, and emphasizes the need to promote the high-quality development of cyber enterprises and improve the categorized and tiered cultivation service work mechanism.

It is reported that, to promote the implementation of the Plan's tasks and ensure practical results, the Cyberspace Administration of China will next work with relevant departments in 4 areas.

In strengthening overall coordination, the national informatization development work coordination mechanism will be improved, departmental coordination, central-local linkage and categorized guidance will be strengthened, monitoring and evaluation of implementation will be organized, the national informatization development report will be released regularly, and the effective implementation of various tasks will be promoted.

In funding support, various types of fiscal funds and industrial funds will be coordinated and used well in accordance with regulations, patient capital, long-term capital and strategic capital will be developed and expanded, and financial institutions will be guided to support the development of the cyber industry.

In talent team building, the informatization performance capacity of leading cadres will be comprehensively enhanced, and efforts to cultivate interdisciplinary and cross-field composite talents will be increased.

In strengthening publicity and guidance, social consensus will be widely consolidated, and the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the whole society in promoting informatization development will be stimulated.

(Source: The Paper) Middle of the main text Embedded advertisement