On August 27, 2026, the 16th China International Digital Publishing Expo officially opened in Jinan, Shandong Province. Themed "Digital Innovation for the Future, Smart Journey to New Horizons," the three-day expo aims to comprehensively showcase the latest achievements in China's digital publishing sector, explore future industry trends, and serve as a vital platform for domestic and international exchange and cooperation. As a high-profile, large-scale, and highly influential professional expo in China's digital publishing field, this year's event has drawn widespread attention from the industry.
Boasting impressive scale and robust participation, the expo has created a vibrant hub for domestic and international institutions. Domestically, delegations from 20 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities are exhibiting, comprehensively showcasing local innovative practices and fruitful achievements in digital publishing. Internationally, publishing enterprises and industry associations from nearly 30 countries and regions, including Greece and Kenya, have actively participated. In total, nearly 500 domestic and international exhibitors have converged at the event, fully demonstrating the sector's strong appeal and its accelerating trend toward internationalization.
During the expo, the release of a major industry report became the center of attention. At the opening ceremony, the Academy of Press and Publication officially released the "2025–2026 China Digital Publishing Industry Annual Report." Supported by comprehensive data and in-depth analysis, the report provides a panoramic view of the development trajectory and latest dynamics of China's digital publishing industry. According to the report, the overall scale of China's digital publishing industry reached 1,879.93 billion RMB in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 7.51%, maintaining strong growth momentum despite the broader macroeconomic climate. This figure not only reaffirms the solid position of digital publishing as a core pillar of the cultural industry but also reflects sustained robust market demand and the continuous unleashing of industry vitality.
In terms of industry structure, the report notes that digital revenue from traditional books, newspapers, and periodicals has remained stable with steady progress, keeping the foundational base secure. Meanwhile, emerging segments of digital publishing have continued to grow at a rapid pace, serving as a key engine driving the expansion of the industry's overall scale. Notably, internet advertising, online gaming, online education, and digital music continue to firmly hold the top four positions. Leveraging massive user bases, mature business models, and continuously iterating technological applications, these four sectors have built a robust competitive moat for the digital publishing industry, fostering the prosperity of the overall industry ecosystem.
Notably, the report provides a systematic review of the digital publishing industry's development over the course of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Data shows that the industry's overall scale climbed from 1,276.26 billion RMB in 2021 to 1,879.93 billion RMB in 2025, achieving double-digit cumulative growth over the five years. This leapfrog expansion profoundly reflects the remarkable success of the 14th Five-Year Plan's digital strategy for the cultural sector. Since 2025, China's digital publishing industry has continued its march toward high-quality development, propelled by sustained and robust momentum.
On the technological front, digital and intelligent transformation has emerged as the core driving force behind the industry's evolution. The report emphasizes that digitalization and intelligence are comprehensively reshaping production processes, production paradigms, service models, and the industry ecosystem. From AI-assisted content creation and big data-driven precision distribution to the creation of immersive reading experiences, multiple sub-sectors are exhibiting unprecedented new characteristics. This industry transformation, driven by underlying technological logic, has not only enhanced the efficiency and quality of content production but also vastly enriched the cultural consumption experience for users.
The successful hosting of this China International Digital Publishing Expo serves not only as a comprehensive review of the industry's developmental achievements in recent years but also as a profound exploration of future pathways for high-quality growth. Guided by the theme "Digital Innovation for the Future, Smart Journey to New Horizons," nearly 500 domestic and international institutions have gathered in Jinan, the "Spring City," to discuss new opportunities in digital publishing. Looking ahead, as digital and intelligent technologies are more deeply integrated and international cooperation continues to expand, China's digital publishing industry is poised to unlock even broader development space, contributing greater Chinese insight and strength to the prosperity of the global cultural industry. (By CMG reporters Qin Wenming and Wang Yue)