China IC exports surge 96% in H1 2026 on AI chip demand

China's integrated circuit exports surged dramatically in the first half of 2026, with the General Administration of Customs reporting on July 14 that IC shipments reached US$177.28 billion（約28兆円）—a 96% increase over the prior-year period. The growth reflects surging global demand across multiple segments of the semiconductor market, particularly AI hardware, data center infrastructure, and high-performance computing systems. This supply-chain momentum underscores the intensity of global investment in AI infrastructure, as companies worldwide compete to expand their computational capacity in response to the rapid adoption of generative AI and large language models.

China's integrated circuit exports have registered a dramatic acceleration in 2026, with the 96% growth rate reflecting the global intensity of investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The US$177.28 billion（約28兆円） export volume in the first half alone signals that semiconductor demand remains robust across multiple segments—AI training and inference hardware, data center equipment, and specialized high-performance computing systems—all of which rely heavily on chip supply. The announcement by China's General Administration of Customs on July 14 serves as a barometer of broader supply-chain health during a period when major cloud providers, AI startups, and enterprises are scaling their compute capacity at an unprecedented pace.