China puts 490 billion euro into networks and computing power

China has put telecom infrastructure, computing power and artificial intelligence at the centre of its industrial strategy for the next five years. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the 15th five-year plan for 2026-2030, as Corriere Comunicazioni reports.

The scale is large and spelled out in detail. The plan commits 490 billion euro in cumulative investment and sets a target of 9 800 Eflops of computing capacity for AI by 2030. On mobile, the goal is 95 percent 5G penetration. Research, standardisation and pilot work on 6G is to run in parallel.

Network architecture is to shift in two directions: the build-out of 5G Advanced, and nodes that pull edge computing into clusters of up to 100 000 accelerators. That second point matters economically. It shows China's strategy does not rest on mega-scale alone. It also assumes a dense web of smaller computing sites closer to users.

On the results side, the plan projects revenue of around 525 billion euro and tracks it through thirteen indicators and six lines of action. Among the named initiatives are "East Data, West Computing", which moves computing loads to regions with cheaper energy, and "AI + Information Communication".

The plan needs to be read alongside a second thread: the global debate over how fast models should develop. As Corriere Comunicazioni describes it, the call by Anthropic chief Dario Amodei to consider a moratorium on the most powerful systems sits inside a dispute where safety and technological advantage are inseparable. A pause at the frontier of capability would require deciding which systems would face restrictions, on what parameters, and how compliance would be checked. It would also mean bringing military and intelligence work under control, which is far harder.

That makes Chinese industrial policy a double challenge for Europe. First, it sets an investment scale against which European programmes look modest. Second, it shows the future order around AI will be decided not only by the quality of models but by the number of accelerators, kilometres of network and megawatts of power that someone manages to connect.

The plan rests on thirteen indicators and six strategic directions. Its centre of gravity is not individual models but the infrastructure layer. Fifth-generation networks are to reach 95 percent penetration, and the plan provides in parallel for 5G Advanced, research and standardisation work on the sixth generation, and edge computing. Computing clusters will be built as nodes of up to one hundred thousand accelerators.

The infrastructure itself is also meant to become an export product. Beijing expects sector revenue to reach around 525 billion euro. The slogans "Data in the east, computing in the west" and "AI plus connectivity" describe how computing capacity is to be spread between energy-rich western provinces and industrial centres in the east.

The scale of the Chinese plan contrasts with the pace of debate elsewhere. Where the United States and Europe argue over moratoria and model safeguards, Beijing answers with a multi-year investment plan spread over five years. The difference in planning horizon becomes a competitive advantage in itself.