The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other departments jointly issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Innovative Development of the Internet of Things Industry (2026-2028)"

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other departments recently jointly issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Innovative Development of the Internet of Things Industry (2026-2028)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which clearly states that through five major measures—promoting the innovation and upgrading of IoT devices, enhancing the service efficiency of IoT platforms, cultivating IoT application scenarios, solidifying the IoT network foundation, and creating an ecosystem for the development of the IoT industry—it aims to promote the innovative development of the IoT industry, further accelerate the comprehensive integration of IoT technology into production, consumption, and social governance, promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and help develop new quality productivity. The "Action Plan" proposes that by 2028, new technologies, products, and models in the IoT sector will continuously emerge, the industry's innovation capability will be continuously enhanced, breakthroughs will be achieved in key technologies such as perception, networking and communication, data processing, and security, the intelligence level of terminals and platforms will be significantly improved, more than 50 advanced applicable standards will be formulated and revised, 10 application fields with over 100 million connections and 15 application fields with over 10 million connections will be cultivated, the number of IoT terminal connections will strive to reach the scale of 10 billion, and the scale of the core IoT industry will exceed 3.5 trillion yuan. Notice on Issuing the "Action Plan for Promoting the Innovative Development of the Internet of Things Industry (2026-2028)" MIIT LianKe [2026] No. 65 To the industrial and information authorities, the Internet Information Offices, Development and Reform Commissions, Education Departments, Ecological Environment Departments, Housing and Urban-Rural Development Departments, Health Commissions, Market Supervision Bureaus, Data Management Departments, and relevant units of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and cities specifically designated in the state plan: The "Action Plan for Promoting the Innovative Development of the Internet of Things Industry (2026-2028)" is hereby issued to you. Please earnestly implement it in accordance with actual conditions. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Central Internet Information Office National Development and Reform Commission Ministry of Education Ministry of Ecology and Environment Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development National Health Commission State Administration for Market Regulation National Data Bureau March 16, 2026 Action Plan for Promoting the Innovative Development of the Internet of Things Industry (2026-2028) The Internet of Things (IoT) is based on perception technology and achieves ubiquitous intelligent connections among people, machines, and objects through communication networks, bridging the digital world and the physical world. The IoT industry mainly consists of perception, networking, platforms, applications, and security guarantees. To promote the innovative development of the IoT industry, further accelerate the comprehensive integration of IoT technology into production, consumption, and social governance, promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and help develop new quality productivity, this action plan is formulated. I. Overall Requirements Guided by Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the successive plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, with key technological innovation as the breakthrough and scenario application promotion as the traction, fully leverage China's advantages in massive terminal connections and ultra-large-scale markets, and promote the high-quality large-scale deployment and application of IoT, creating a new type of IoT infrastructure characterized by comprehensive perception, ubiquitous intelligent connections, multi-network integration, and security and trustworthiness, providing solid support for accelerating the advancement of new industrialization and building a strong manufacturing and cyber power By 2028, new technologies, products, and models in the Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to emerge, with the industry's innovation capabilities continuously enhanced. Breakthroughs will be achieved in key technologies such as perception, networking and communication, data processing, and security. The level of intelligence in terminals and platforms will be significantly improved, with more than 50 advanced applicable standards revised and established. Ten application areas with over 100 million connections and 15 areas with over 10 million connections will be cultivated, aiming for the number of IoT terminal connections to reach the scale of 10 billion, and the core IoT industry scale to exceed 3.5 trillion yuan. II. Promote Innovation and Upgrading of IoT Devices (1) Breakthrough key technologies for perception devices. In line with the technological evolution trend towards low power consumption, integration, and communication-perception integration, accelerate the research and development of technologies such as passive IoT, multimodal perception, high-precision positioning, and collective intelligence perception. Strengthen innovative applications of low-power communication and high-frequency concurrent data collection devices, enhance the self-calibration, anti-interference, and real-time monitoring capabilities of perception devices in complex environments, and improve the independent innovation level of mid-to-high-end sensors such as micro-nano displacement sensors, flexible tactile sensors, and high-resolution visual sensors. (2) Accelerate the optimization and upgrading of application terminals. Focusing on the development direction of intelligent and connected terminals, accelerate the deep integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, human-computer interaction, and edge computing with IoT application terminals, enhancing the precise analysis, intelligent decision-making, and convenient interaction capabilities of application terminals. Accelerate the large-scale deployment of IPv6, promote new industry application terminals to support and default to the IPv6 protocol, assisting in the intelligent transformation and network connection of industry application terminals. (3) Enhance the connectivity capabilities of network devices. In line with the trend of integrated development of network and computing power facilities, promote the application of new high-performance transmission protocols and network resource optimization scheduling technologies to meet the communication needs of large connections, low latency, anti-interference, and low power consumption in IoT. Advance the large-scale deployment of intelligent modules, intelligent gateways, and edge servers, enhancing the protocol adaptation, data transmission and processing, and resource allocation capabilities of network devices. III. Improve the Service Efficiency of IoT Platforms (4) Build a high-energy IoT platform. Construct a "device-edge-cloud" platform architecture that efficiently aggregates resources, processes data efficiently, and shares information across platforms, adapting to gigabit optical networks, 5G, and other fixed and mobile network connections, providing services such as device interconnection, heterogeneous data access, integrated governance, and application development and integration. Utilize big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence technologies comprehensively to enhance the quality and efficiency of platform data processing. Encourage the research and development of technologies such as microkernel, virtualization, and security architecture to create an open-source, secure, energy-efficient, and customizable IoT operating system. (5) Optimize the operation and management of IoT platforms. Encourage diversified entities such as basic telecom operators, cloud service providers, industry enterprises, and users to participate in the construction and operation of IoT platforms, carrying out planning and design, integration implementation, network operation and maintenance, operational monitoring, and security assurance activities. Accelerate the efficient aggregation of elements such as IoT devices, data resources, and application services, streamline the entire operational chain from data collection, intelligent analysis to continuous optimization, and comprehensively enhance platform operational efficiency. IV. Cultivate IoT Application Scenarios (6) Deepen the integration of IoT applications in the production sector. Focused on the industrial field, promote the application of IoT technology in design, production, logistics, sales, and services, enhancing the intelligent perception and efficient collaboration levels throughout the entire production process. Centered around key areas such as agriculture, energy, transportation, modern logistics, construction, resources, and environment, deepen the application of IoT technology in smart farms (agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing), product traceability, energy management, warehousing logistics, intelligent construction, and environmental monitoring. Explore the application model of "solution + product + service," promoting the formation of a batch of industry solutions with large-scale promotion value, assisting in improving quality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. (7) Stimulate the demand for IoT applications in the consumer sector. Relying on terminal products such as smartphones, wearable devices, smart home products, smart home appliances, smart connected vehicles, and robots, innovate application scenarios like interconnection between people, vehicles, and homes, smart supermarkets, remote healthcare, integrated medical and elderly care, digital education, and smart cultural tourism. Explore application ecosystem-driven business models, cultivate a batch of IoT applications and value-added services based on personalized user needs, enriching immersive, safe, and convenient life experiences. (8) Strengthen the supply of IoT services in social governance. Deepen the application of IoT technology, enhance the digital construction of urban construction and operation governance, improve the City Information Model (CIM) platform, assist in building "digital twin cities," and scientifically and orderly promote the construction of low-altitude intelligent network systems, supporting the realization of urban intelligent management, risk warning, emergency rescue, and other functions. Explore the application model of "solution + construction + operation," promoting the realization of full lifecycle management of social governance IoT terminal planning, construction, operation, maintenance, and services, empowering refined social governance. V. Solidify the IoT Network Foundation (9) Expand the scope of network deployment. Combine demand with appropriately advanced construction of mobile IoT networks, building a mobile IoT ecosystem based on a combination of 4G (including LTE-Cat1, which is a 4G network with a rate category of 1) and 5G (including NB-IoT narrowband IoT, RedCap lightweight). Promote experimental verification of network technologies such as satellite IoT, maritime/underwater/underground space IoT, and new short-range wireless communication, support dedicated mobile communication and other network deployments that comply with IoT frequency usage planning, and support the formation of wide coverage, full connectivity, and multi-level network service capabilities. (10) Accelerate the process of multi-network integration. Promote the collaborative deployment of mobile IoT, wireless local area networks, and wired networks, accelerate the integration of IoT fixed and mobile networks, and the combination of wide and narrowband, enhancing the IoT transmission service capability and network resource connection aggregation capability. Break through key technologies for heterogeneous network integration, promote the integration of IoT with dedicated networks in industries such as industrial, transportation, and environmental protection, and enhance the service capability of integrated IoT networks across all scenarios. (11) Enhance the level of intelligent network connectivity. Explore the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in IoT networks, improving the intelligence level in network connectivity, resource management, and operation maintenance. Promote the collaborative innovation of IoT with future network technologies such as quantum communication and next-generation internet, accelerate the application promotion of deterministic networks, time-sensitive networks, and other technologies, supporting IoT to achieve ultra-high-speed transmission, ultra-low latency communication, ultra-high density, and ultra-high reliability connections 6. Creating an Ecosystem for the Development of the Internet of Things Industry (12) Improve the Internet of Things industry system. Build a core industry chain map and key technology list around the key links of the Internet of Things industry chain, and promote the tackling of short-board technologies, upgrading of long-board technologies, and promotion of advanced technologies in a classified and graded manner. Optimize and improve the Internet of Things standard system, accelerate the formulation and implementation of key technology standards and industry integration application standards. Strengthen industrial operation monitoring, establish and improve the measurement system for industrial scale and connection numbers, and assess the supply capacity of the core industry chain. (13) Highlight the status of enterprises as the main body of innovation. Support leading enterprises in building innovation centers in the manufacturing industry, enhance key laboratories, and accelerate the research and development of cutting-edge technologies and key common technologies. Encourage high-tech enterprises, specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises, and single champion enterprises in manufacturing to increase R&D efforts and form a batch of market-competitive advantageous products. Encourage industrial clusters to leverage location advantages, guide close cooperation between upstream and downstream of the industry chain, and create an innovative ecosystem with complementary advantages. (14) Deepen the integration of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. Accelerate the development of technologies such as intelligent perception and multi-modal data fusion, and create a batch of advanced intelligent agents with autonomous perception, control, and execution capabilities. Promote the lightweight deployment of large artificial intelligence models at terminals and edges, and collaboratively enhance platform resource scheduling capabilities. Cultivate a batch of industry-specific models aimed at key application scenarios, build an open and shared application model library for the Internet of Things, and stimulate new products, new scenarios, and new models for the integration of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. (15) Release the potential value of Internet of Things data. Promote the formulation of unified Internet of Things data standards to facilitate cross-brand, cross-terminal, and cross-platform interconnectivity of product data. Promote the construction of high-quality industry data sets to improve data aggregation, processing analysis, and sharing service capabilities. Guide Internet of Things-related enterprises to fulfill responsibilities such as data classification and grading, important data identification and reporting, security protection, and risk assessment, enhancing data security protection levels. (16) Strengthen the security supervision of the Internet of Things. Promote the implementation of network security identification management, accelerate the mutual recognition of network security identifications domestically and internationally, and orderly guide enterprises to voluntarily participate. In response to network security threats and violations of use in the Internet of Things, strengthen network security risk monitoring, assessment, and protection. Enterprises involved in telecommunications business operations must obtain the corresponding licenses in accordance with the law. Based on a blockchain network distributed digital identity service system, build a distributed identity authentication mechanism for Internet of Things devices. Strengthen the management of Internet of Things devices entering the network, promote the integrated development of the Internet of Things and identification resolution systems, and create a management system of "one item, one code, one number, one data" to enhance the refined management level of connected devices. 7. Comprehensive Guarantee Strengthen departmental linkage, deepen central-local collaboration, encourage multi-party cooperation among industry, academia, research, and application, and adopt multiple measures to promote key tasks such as R&D of key technologies, infrastructure construction, cultivation of application scenarios, and safety supervision. Continuously encourage enterprises to carry out research and development of key core technologies for the Internet of Things through national science and technology major projects, national key R&D plans, and other national science and technology programs. Strengthen the layout and construction of pilot verification platforms, relying on public service platforms for industrial technology infrastructure and industrial metrology testing centers, to provide services such as Internet of Things technology verification, product testing and evaluation, and metrology testing certification. Leverage the guiding role of government investment funds to attract more social capital to support the innovative development of the Internet of Things industry Strengthen the joint training between schools and enterprises, implement projects such as the cultivation of digital technology engineers and the training plan for high-skilled talent clusters, and cultivate and expand a high-level Internet of Things talent team.