The first half of 2026 economic report for Guangdong province has been released, showing the region's GDP reached 7.2281 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%. The economy maintains stable, innovative, and high-quality development, with a more solid pace of high-quality growth.

Among the highlights, the value added by the information transmission, software, and information technology services sector increased by 8.2%, outperforming the overall service sector growth rate by 3.7 percentage points. This makes it one of the strongest performing areas within Guangdong's service industry for the first half of the year. Operational data further illustrates the sector's vitality. From January to May, operating revenue of internet and related services above the designated size grew by 10.3%, while software and information technology services revenue increased by 8.6%.

An economic analysis released by the provincial statistics bureau identifies industry, finance, and information services as the three core pillars supporting economic growth, with their combined contribution rate exceeding 70%. The sustained rapid growth of the information services sector has further strengthened the foundation for Guangdong's stable economic performance.

Where to Start

To understand this growth, it's not enough to simply look at the expansion of the information services sector itself. We must also examine which industrial links its professional capabilities are entering. This year, Guangdong's high-quality development conference proposed promoting the coordinated development of manufacturing and service industries. The service sector covers many areas, with producer services directly targeting production activities. Information services are a key component of this category.

The digital systems and information technology solutions provided by the information services sector directly enter stages such as R&D, design, and production management, transforming technology into professional services tailored to actual manufacturing needs. This type of service has broad industrial demand. In the first half of the year, the value added of Guangdong's advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing above the designated size grew by 6.9% and 11.1% respectively. Output of industrial robots, integrated circuits, and electronic components increased by 34.2%, 29.7%, and 10.7% respectively.

The high-end and intelligent development of related industries imposes higher requirements for professional services, also providing more opportunities for the information services sector to empower manufacturing development. The role of information services is not simply to add a few platforms for manufacturing companies. Different manufacturing industries have unique characteristics in production processes, technical standards, and management methods. General-purpose information technology needs to undergo industry-specific development to form solutions that fit actual production conditions.

By delving into specific industries and improving products and services around real-world production problems, information service companies can enhance their professional ability to serve manufacturing while also creating new business growth points driven by industrial demand. Guangdong's strong manufacturing base, powerful digital intelligence capabilities, and rich industrial application needs provide favorable conditions for the information services sector to play its professional role.

Why Just These Two Sectors?

As an important sub-sector of the service industry, the value of the information services sector is reflected both in its own growth and in its ability to provide professional services to manufacturing. Looking ahead, Guangdong still needs to strengthen R&D in key areas such as basic software and industrial software, cultivate more competitive information service companies, and transform digital intelligence technology into professional capabilities that solve practical production problems.

This will add strength to Guangdong's efforts to promote the coordinated development of manufacturing and service industries, injecting more vitality into the stable and improved quality of the economy.