China's software industry is expected to surpass 20 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) in scale during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), according to a report released Tuesday by the China Software Industry Association.

The 2025 Outlook Report on China's Software Industry Development showed that software business revenue reached 2.15 trillion yuan in the first two months of this year, up 11.7% year on year. Total industry profits rose 7.3% to 269.3 billion yuan.

Chen Baoguo, executive deputy secretary-general of the association, said China's software business revenue had grown steadily from 8.16 trillion yuan in 2020 to 15.48 trillion yuan in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 13.8%, ranking among the highest across major sectors of the national economy.

The report said the software industry has played a key role in advancing the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing.

China has built more than 8,200 advanced-level smart factories, over 500 excellence-level smart factories and 15 flagship smart factories. The numerical control rate of key production processes and the adoption rate of digital research and design tools have both risen significantly, helping shift manufacturing toward more flexible and intelligent production.

At present, major industrial internet platforms in China are connected to more than 100 million sets of industrial equipment, providing strong support for the digital transformation of manufacturing.

Xiong Jijun, vice minister of industry and information technology, said China will promote the rollout of a special action plan on "AI plus software."

The plan will encourage intelligent transformation in software development, upgrades of software products, and smart renovation of software enterprises, while supporting new software models such as intelligent operating systems and smart industrial software.