China's major mobile network operators including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are to commercialize 5G technology by 2020, with basic research and testing to be complete by 2018, according to a report by the Economic Information Daily.
Leading Chinese telecom equipment providers like Huawei, and ZTE are accelerating their research in 5G technology, and cooperative efforts between Chinese companies and their European counterparts are also underway.
A joint working group between universities, research institutes and enterprises has been set up to promote the study of 5G in China and the formation of global standards, the chief engineer of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Zhang Feng, said.
As the next generation mobile communication technology, 5G is expected to raise network speeds 1,000 times, bringing vast business opportunities, especially in the Internet of things (IoT) industry. It may also transport virtual reality, holographic images and other new technologies direct to people's lives.
At present, China has the world's largest 4G mobile network, with 160 million users.