China continues to lead global growth in the next generation of telecommunications technology with the expansion of the country’s 5G network, according to the Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing.
“China has built more than one million 5G base stations, which is over 70% of the world market. The number of 5G users has exceeded 400 million, which is the largest user group in the world,” the official said, as quoted by Xinhua news agency.
According to the ministry's forecast, the number of 5G subscribers in the country will exceed 560 million by 2023, or nearly 40% of the total number of mobile users in the country.
Earlier, the ministry also said that China ranks first in the number of patents related to 5G communication technologies.
China's leading mobile operators began providing fifth-generation communication services to their customers in October 2019. Throughout 2020, some 580,000 5G base stations were installed in the country, with the network covering all major cities. Beijing plans to install over 600,000 new stations by the end of the year.
While many countries around the globe are only starting to embrace 5G technology, Chinese tech giant Huawei recently announced plans to roll out its successor 6G network, which it aims to introduce to the market by 2030.
