On September 11, 2026, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) held a press conference in Beijing to present its AI + Software special action plan. MIIT's Department of Information Technology Development set a 2028 goal: significantly raise the intelligence level of the software and IT-services sector, spread adoption across 20,000 above-scale software enterprises, organise 100 enterprise-level intelligent technical-upgrade projects, build 100 agent-software benchmark applications in key industries, and incubate at least five key open-source projects. By 2030 it wants a further leap that moves China's software sector toward the high end of the global value chain. Officials framed the plan as a shift from software as passive tools to intelligent partners that understand intent and complete tasks, with development moving from human-written to human-machine collaboration and delivery from selling products to providing capability. Deputy Director Wang Weiwei said China's software industry revenue reached 15.48 trillion yuan in 2025 - 6.2 times the 2012 level and a 15.1% compound annual growth rate - and that by June 2026 China's daily token calls had passed 500 trillion. The plan spans six areas, including software production, product intelligence, agent software, services, and foundational support in computing power, datasets and standards.
Our takeThe framing is the story: Beijing is no longer talking about software 'with AI features' but about agents as the product. The 500-trillion-daily-token figure matters more than the yuan total, because it measures machine consumption rather than human use - the demand signal this plan is built to serve. The open question is whether state-set targets like '100 benchmarks' produce durable tools or just a compliance checklist.