This page is a synopsis of the “2023 China AI Digital Human Industry Research Report”《2023年中国AI数字人产业研究报告》published on iiMedia’s site by iiMedia Research (艾媒咨询). It argues that as AI capability matures and application scenarios expand, demand for AI-driven digital humans is rising across Chinese industries. The page reports that China’s “virtual human” core market reached 120.8 billion RMB in 2022, up 94.2% year on year, and projects 480.6 billion RMB by 2025. It also presents a larger “spillover” or adjacent market driven by virtual humans, estimated at 1,866.1 billion RMB in 2022 and projected to reach 6,402.7 billion RMB by 2025.
It defines AI digital humans as virtual characters generated through artificial intelligence and simulation technologies that typically have human-like appearance and cognitive capabilities, and it distinguishes them from earlier virtual humans by emphasizing dependence on large-scale data collection and deep learning to enable adaptive learning and adjustment. It attributes market momentum to several drivers: policy support (often routed through metaverse and VR-related policy initiatives), the expansion of the digital economy, enterprise demand for digital transformation and cost reduction, and technical innovation, including patent growth. The page states that there were 6,377 AI-digital-human-related patent applications in 2022, up 4.7%, with applications concentrated in areas such as specialized data-processing applications, digital information retrieval, computer-aided design, and biological modeling.
On the demand side, it says customers are primarily small and medium-sized enterprises, reporting that 95.6% of client companies fall into mid-sized or smaller categories, and it claims the top demand industries include e-commerce, health and social services, education, finance, and transportation. It describes the most requested product types as “digital employees” and customized digital humans, and it says enterprise buyers increasingly prioritize personalized customization and efficient service outcomes; it also reports that more than half of enterprises can accept a customization price range of 110,000–200,000 RMB. On the supply and commercialization side, it outlines common operating and cooperation models such as technology licensing, custom development, platform integration, content collaboration, promotion, and ongoing operations and services; it lists provider revenue models including license or authorization fees, SaaS platform fees, customization projects, and advertising or promotion income, and it notes that as of September 2023 there were 538 active companies in China’s digital-human service sector with concentration in East, South, and North China.