2026 China Sci-Fi Conference Boosts Industry, Stepping into High-Quality Development

From transformable and combat-ready car mechs to humanoid robots featured in the Spring Festival Gala, and immersive sci-fi carnivals, the 2026 China Sci-Fi Conference held at Shougang Park in Shijingshan District, Beijing, has attracted a total of 216,000 visitors over three days, a year-on-year increase of 68.9%, with total consumption reaching 5.923 million yuan, up 21.2% year-on-year, according to People’s Network. This event has become a vivid reflection of the vigorous development of China’s sci-fi industry.

The "2026 China Sci-Fi Industry Report" released by the China Research Institute for Science Popularization shows that the total revenue of China’s sci-fi industry in 2025 reached 126.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%, exceeding 100 billion yuan for three consecutive years and steadily entering a new stage of high-quality development.

Wang Chunfa, Chairman of the China Popular Science Writers Association, pointed out that since 2023, the overall scale of China’s sci-fi industry has remained stable at the 100-billion-yuan level, completing the leap from a cultural phenomenon to an industrial form and from a single category to a comprehensive ecology.

The report indicates that a multi-dimensional pattern of coordinated development among sci-fi reading, film and television, games, derivatives and cultural tourism has taken shape. In 2025, sci-fi reading achieved 5.19 billion yuan in revenue, growing for eight consecutive years; sci-fi film and television reached 8.16 billion yuan, with AIGC short videos rising rapidly; sci-fi games hit 77.91 billion yuan, with domestic works performing well overseas.

Sun Shiqian, a senior sci-fi expert and robot installation artist, noted that the industry’s continuous growth stems from the transformation of sci-fi from a niche hobby to national cultural consumption, supported by national technological strength and cultural confidence. Meanwhile, the industry faces bottlenecks such as weak original IP construction and inadequate integration of science and art.

Efforts to improve the industry ecology are underway. An immersive experience center based on Liu Cixin’s classic sci-fi works recently opened in Beijing’s sub-center. Experts such as Liu Yunhao from Tsinghua University and Li Ming from China Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Ltd. suggested focusing on original capacity and technological empowerment to enhance global influence.