China’s generative AI users surpass 700 million, official report says

China’s generative artificial intelligence user base exceeded 700 million by the end of June, according to data released by the China Internet Network Information Centre. The figure represents more than half of the country’s population and a 16 per cent increase from the 602 million users recorded at the end of 2025. The penetration rate rose from 42.8 per cent during the same period.

Question-and-answer services remained the most common use of generative AI. In a survey cited by the report, 76 per cent of users said they used the technology to seek answers. Nearly half of respondents, or 48 per cent, said they used AI tools to process images or videos.

Another 38 per cent used the technology for text processing, while 33 per cent applied it to work summaries, meeting notes or presentations. Adoption has also extended beyond software. The report said 39 per cent of users had bought smart hardware online during the previous six months.

The centre said Chinese AI laboratories had advanced their technologies, citing trillion-parameter open-weight models launched this year by domestic companies including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI. Computing infrastructure also expanded. Intelligent computing capacity rose 177 per cent year on year to 2,185 eflops by the end of June, the report said.

Eflops measure the processing speed of computer systems. The report’s findings echoed a Morgan Stanley survey that found weekly personal AI use among Chinese respondents at 80 per cent, compared with 54 per cent in the United States. The bank attributed China’s advantage largely to AI integration into shopping, messaging, search and entertainment platforms.