China sees orderly exit of excess capacity firms while AI, high-tech firms expand

China has seen an orderly exit of companies in new energy vehicle, photovoltaic and lithium battery sectors in the first half of this year, while emerging technology sectors continue to attract new businesses, the country's top market regulator said on Saturday.

According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, 7,632 new energy vehicle-related companies, 5,089 photovoltaic companies and 155 lithium battery firms were deregistered in the first six months of this year, up 4.6 percent, 8.3 percent and 12.3 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Meanwhile, frontier technology sectors have maintained strong momentum, with 55,000 new companies established in the generative artificial intelligence sector during the first half, up 28 percent year-on-year.

The humanoid robot sector saw even faster expansion, with 116,000 new companies registered, an increase of 9.5 percent from a year earlier, highlighting growing investment and entrepreneurial activity in emerging industries expected to become new engines of economic growth.

China's high-tech manufacturing sector also continued to gain strength. By the end of June, the country had 330,000 high-tech manufacturing enterprises, with 15,000 new firms established in the first six months of the year.

Among them, new companies in spacecraft and launch vehicle manufacturing surged 185.7 percent year-on-year, while optical fiber and cable manufacturing rose 129.4 percent and integrated circuit manufacturing increased 24.2 percent.