Abstract: Aim To study the current tendency in the evolution of industrial structure. Methods The qualitative analysis combined with the quantitative analysis was used to discuss the characteristic in evolution of industrial structure. Results The characteristic of industrial structure softening was described, the softening phenomena of three major industries were analyzed, and the formulation of industrial structure softening was put forward. Conclusion The industrial structure softening is one of the most important characteristic in current industrial structure. This is because requirement structure and product essenlials soften. The industrial structure in the era of knowledge economy is a kind of soft structure.