IT a Significant Contributor to Shanghai's Growth

The industry and the software/information technology sector contributed more than half of Shanghai's economic growth in 2025.

Above-scale industrial added value grew 5.1 percent in 2025. Total industrial output reached 4.07 trillion yuan (US$581 billion), a record. Soft-info revenue rose 22.6 percent, surpassing wholesale and retail to become the city's third-largest sector. Strategic emerging manufacturing accounted for 45 percent of total industrial output.

Integrated circuit output approached 490 billion yuan, up 25 percent; multiple AI chips entered mass production. AI output exceeded 550 billion yuan, up 30 percent. Computing power reached 120 EFLOPS. Shanghai hosts 138 registered large language models, the second-highest nationally. A 60 billion yuan national AI fund is based in the city.

Firms including MetaX, MiniMax, Biren and Montage listed recently. Zhiyuan shipped more humanoid robots than any other manufacturer.

Shanghai led the overall design or final assembly of the Fujian aircraft carrier, the Adora Magic City cruise ship, large LNG carriers, and the C919 jet. The Chang'e-6 lunar far-side sampling mission incorporated systems developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. The Shidaowan fourth-generation nuclear plant, the world's first commercially operated unit of its kind, uses core equipment supplied by Shanghai Electric.

The city's 2026 targets: 5 percent added-value growth for above-scale industrial enterprises and 12 percent revenue growth for the soft-info sector.