China Galaxy Securities has released a research report noting that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued a notice on the "15th Five-Year Plan" for the information and communication industry, setting the goal of further enhancing the industry's empowerment capabilities and globalization levels. The plan highlights a structural rebuild of domestic computing power, marking a shift in industry value from traffic management to a new token-based computing ecosystem. The notice also calls for the construction of an integrated space-ground network, signaling a new development cycle for 6G communication networks and intensified efforts to tackle key core technologies. Additionally, it emphasizes the growth of open-source communities and ecosystems in the information and communication sector, alongside continuous improvement in the internationalization of standards.
The communication industry is expected to maintain stable growth with improved quality, characterized by moderately advanced construction of new information infrastructure and the cultivation of a new industrial system. The plan for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period states that by 2030, a comprehensive and high-performance next-generation communication network will be fully established, accelerating the formation of an advanced, secure, and controllable information and communication industrial system. This includes effectively building a technology-management-integrated, agile, and efficient governance framework, developing comprehensive and practical network and data security capabilities, and further elevating the industry's empowerment and globalization levels. The industry's revenue is projected to reach 4.1 trillion yuan by 2030, based on the 2025 baseline of 3.8 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of approximately 1.5%. Capital expenditure plans involve a cumulative investment of 3.8 trillion yuan in information infrastructure over five consecutive years. The total volume of telecommunications business is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7%, with potential for ARPU recovery and continued upgrading of the telecom business revenue structure.
Building an efficient and collaborative computing infrastructure is a key priority, focusing on strengthening the foundation and quality of computing power facilities while fostering an ecosystem for AI application markets. As of the end of 2025, the national intelligent computing power scale stood at 1590 EFLOPS, with a target of reaching 9800 EFLOPS by 2030, implying a more than six-fold growth during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Efforts will be made to accelerate the construction of a nationwide integrated computing network, establishing a multi-tiered facility system encompassing hubs, regions, and edge nodes. Plans include the orderly deployment of intelligent computing clusters with ten thousand or even one hundred thousand cards, situated in accordance with application scenarios, and increased adaptation of domestic computing chips. The focus is also on deepening automated monitoring and supply-demand matching for computing power to improve resource utilization, strengthening R&D and application of key generic technologies, exploring frontier research on space-based computing and ecosystem cultivation, and continuously refining standards and evaluation systems. This overall strategy represents a structural rebuild of domestic computing power, transitioning industry value from traffic management to a new token-based computing ecosystem.
The construction of an integrated space-ground network is set to open a new development cycle for 6G communication networks, with a strong push to tackle key core technologies. China's 6G technology R&D is accelerating, supported by a dense rollout of industrial policies. Satellite communication, space-air-ground integration, and ubiquitous global connectivity are synergistically driving industry advancement, presenting vast long-term growth potential within the sector. Key 6G technologies include network-native AI, integrated sensing-communication-computing, token-based communication, and data services, alongside research in wireless communications covering extremely large-scale antennas, integrated sensing and communication, satellite-terrestrial convergence, energy efficiency, collaborative spectrum usage across high, medium, and low orbits, and satellite-terrestrial spectrum sharing. The plan also involves establishing standardization technical organizations for emerging and future fields, strengthening standard system development in key areas such as 5G-A/6G, quantum communication, satellite IoT, and direct-to-phone satellite connectivity, and improving the universality of military and civilian standards. Concurrently, the development of open-source communities and ecosystems in the information and communication sector will be promoted, with a continuous focus on raising the level of standard internationalization.
Risks to consider include the potential underperformance of 6G technology R&D and iteration, delays in the satellite internet networking process, intensified industry competition, and uncertainties in domestic and international policies.