China’s “AI+Software” plan sets 2028 targets for the software industry: AI upgrades at 20,000 firms and 100 benchmark agent applications

China’s “AI+Software” plan sets 2028 targets for the software industry: AI upgrades at 20,000 firms and 100 benchmark agent applications

2 October 2026: China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) set out its "AI+Software" special action implementation plan at a press conference on 11 September 2026. It is the government's programme for bringing AI into how software is built and sold in China, and it names targets for 2028 and 2030.

Not yet independently verified. This rests on MIIT’s own press-conference transcript, read in Chinese; the plan document itself was not read. We report it now, three weeks later, because it had not been covered here; it sets targets, not obligations. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The targets

By 2028, according to MIIT:

• AI-driven upgrading across the software and IT services industry, rolled out to 20,000 software companies above the statistical size threshold;
• 100 projects upgrading software companies' technology with AI;
• 100 benchmark agent-software applications in key industries;
• five or more key open-source projects incubated.

By 2030, the integration of AI and software is to reach "a new level".

Six areas of work

1. Changing how software is produced, with AI coding toolchains.
2. Upgrading software products, including basic and industrial software.
3. Nurturing agent software.
4. Expanding intelligent software services, described as "model as a service" and "agent as a service".
5. Strengthening foundations: open source, computing-power services and data sets.
6. Improving the environment: standards, talent, development that protects employment, and security.

MIIT gave context figures: software-industry revenue of 15.48 trillion yuan in 2025, and AtomGit, China's open-source platform, hosting more than 80,000 models and 370,000 data sets with over 12 million registered users in August 2026.

Why it matters

National programmes of this kind steer procurement, subsidies and demonstration projects. The emphasis on agent software and "agent as a service" mirrors the direction of the industry globally, and the open-source targets point to a push for domestic alternatives to foreign developer platforms.

What to do

• Software and AI vendors in China: watch for provincial implementation measures and calls for "benchmark" agent applications, which are often where funding and procurement follow.
• Foreign vendors selling development tools in China: expect domestic AI coding toolchains and AtomGit-hosted open source to be favoured in state-linked buyers' procurement.
• Buyers: the plan's security and standards work may produce requirements for AI-generated code in critical sectors.

Sources

• MIIT: transcript of the press conference on the AI+Software special action implementation plan - 11 September 2026