According to the NDRC, China's service sector contributed 66.1 percent to the nation's economic growth in the first half of 2026, up 5.9 percentage points year on year. Powered by supportive policies, rising market confidence and robust consumption, the sector has maintained solid expansion. Its business activity expectations index has stayed above 55 for five straight months. Authorities are advancing industrial integration, optimizing financial support and rolling out targeted measures to further upgrade and expand the modern service industry.
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Official data released on Wednesday shows the purchasing managers' index for China's non‑manufacturing sector stood at 50.2 in September. The reading rose 1.2 percentage points from August. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in business activity. Covering services and construction industries, the index reflects improving momentum in China's non‑industrial sectors. Together with the manufacturing PMI improvement, it signals a generally steady recovery of the country's economic activity.
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Official data released Wednesday shows China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index stood at 50.1 in September. The reading rose 0.3 percentage points from August, putting the sector back in the expansion zone. A PMI reading above 50 signals expansion of manufacturing activity, while a figure below 50 points to contraction. The improved indicator reflects steady momentum in China's manufacturing sector, offering a positive signal for overall economic performance.
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China's express delivery volume surpassed 150 billion packages as of Sept. 29 in 2026, 12 days earlier than the 2025 figure, according to the State Post Bureau. Analysts say the faster growth reflects strong economic resilience. Driven by robust consumer demand, the sector has maintained double-digit growth for years. Rising online retail sales and evolving consumption trends, including smart and green product purchases and livestream commerce, fuel the expansion of the parcel industry.
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Users of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in China had surpassed 700 million in number by the end of June 2026, according to a report released on Tuesday.
The penetration rate of generative AI had exceeded 50 percent, the report by the China Internet Network Information Center noted.
There had been a diversified range of application scenarios for this technology, said the report, adding that the main scenario is to use generative AI as a conversation tool.
A total of 76 percent of users employed it to answer questions, it revealed.
Noting that the potential of consumption regarding intelligent technology, with purchases of smart devices as a representative, had been unleashed at a faster speed, the report said that 38.7 percent of internet users bought smart devices online during the past six months.
China's first homegrown AI supercluster boasting 100,000 graphics processing units had been put into use, said the report, adding that this underpinned the country's independent innovation regarding AI.
Generative AI had been empowering in-depth industrial transformation and upgrading, making various sectors smarter, said the report.
It also said that embodied AI had represented one of the most active areas in AI development. With increasingly improved capabilities for performing sophisticated tasks, embodied AI robots had been applied in many sectors like industrial manufacturing, surgical operations and everyday life services.
The report was made public at the 2026 China Internet Infrastructure Resources Conference in Beijing.
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China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) ranked 14th among 139 economies on the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index 2026, up one slot from the previous year.
The city took fifth place in Asia on the scale. Against the "Innovation Input" metric, Hong Kong remained the eighth strongest globally.
The rise in ranking came amid Hong Kong's full-throttle push for becoming a global sci-tech hub, as was pledged in its first five-year plan unveiled earlier this month. The HKSAR government has vowed to create a comprehensive industrial ecosystem covering R&D, commercialization, pilot and mass production in new technology parks in the Northern Metropolis.
It will also advance new industrialization and empower various sectors of the economy through AI, said a spokesperson for the HKSAR government.
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Actors dressed in traditional attire perform during a grand ceremony honoring Confucius in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 28, 2026.
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Photos taken on Sept. 28, 2026 show enthusiasts riding bicycles at an ecological sightseeing zone along the Yangtze River in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone, east China's Jiangsu Province.
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The Hongshui River Railway Bridge, a pivotal project connecting Guizhou and Guangxi, completed its arch joining on Tuesday. Boasting a 570-meter main span, it will become the world's longest-span railway arch bridge upon completion. Built to adapt to rugged mountainous terrain, the optimized arch design cuts construction costs and minimizes ecological disruption. As a core part of the Huangtong-Baise Railway, the bridge will facilitate transportation between southwest Guizhou and the Beibu Gulf, boosting the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and regional economic growth.
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Guangdong will host an international humanoid robot basketball competition, RBA, in Guangzhou next April. Teams worldwide from enterprises, universities and research bodies are invited to join. The contest includes competitive and performance events testing robots' dribbling, passing and shooting abilities. It aims to boost global robotic tech exchanges and industrial- academic collaboration. Guangdong boasts strong robot industry strength, with free training venues and technical support offered to participating teams.
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Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology unveiled China's sci-tech priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). The country will boost basic research, make breakthroughs in core technologies and accelerate commercialization of research findings. In 2025, China's R&D spending topped 3.92 trillion yuan. China will advance innovation in integrated circuits, AI and quantum technology, while developing three major international sci-tech innovation centers to drive high-quality development.
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Ambassador of China to Ukraine Ma Shengkun published signed article in Ukrainian media, titled “On the First Anniversary of the Global Governance Initiative: From Guiding Vision to Concrete Action”
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On October 6, Ambassador Ma Shengkun visited the Kyiv Gymnasium of Oriental Languages No.1 and presented a batch of advanced equipment to the students. Ambassador Ma expressed his delight that the students have the opportunity to get acquainted with advanced technologies such as 3D printing from an early age, and encouraged them to make good use of the equipment, study hard and make progress every day.
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