Beijing's cutting-edge industries hit trillion-yuan milestone

Beijing's push into high-tech industries has reached a major milestone, with all 10 of its high-end, precision, and advanced technology sectors now valued at over 100 billion yuan (US$14.07 billion). Three of the ten industries surpassed the trillion-yuan mark, namely the next-generation information technology, tech services, and medicine and health industries.

According to Jiang Guangzhi, head of the municipal bureau of economy and information technology, all these cutting-edge industries of Beijing have surged 61% since 2020, nearing 6 trillion yuan in 2024. Their added value accounted for 33.1% of the city's GDP, up 4.5 percentage points from 2020.

In 2024, Beijing's high-tech manufacturing and strategic emerging industries accounted for 32.3% and 43% of total industrial output respectively, up 6.3 and 10.6 percentage points from 2020. The city's overall labor productivity of industrial enterprises above designated size surged to 710,000 yuan per person, a 47.3% increase since 2020.

The city's industrial upgrade is both smart and green. It has established 19 top-tier and 149 advanced smart factories. In 2024, energy and water consumption per 10,000 yuan of added value of industrial enterprises above designated size dropped 30.8% and 11.3%, respectively, from 2020, the best performance among China's all provincial-level regions. Its 161 national-level and 51 municipal green factories now contribute to 40% of the city’s manufacturing output.

The information software industry has become Beijing's top economic pillar, making up 22.2% of GDP, an increase of 6.9 percentage points during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The sector now generates a quarter of China's total industry revenue, with an average annual growth rate of 17.1% from 2021 to 2024.

Innovation has been the driver of this rapid expansion, with information software invention patents reaching 1,631.3 per 10,000 people in 2024, nearly double the 2020 figure

The city is also leading in future-oriented sectors such as artificial general intelligence. Companies in Beijing have launched 162 large models, accounting for around a third of the national total.