Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2023 shows the IoT intelligent control center of Tianjin Port in north China. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

On the back of China building the world's largest and most advanced 5G networks, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is supporting the industry to develop and promote 6G networks, said Jin Zhuanglong, minister of MIIT, during this year's Two Sessions.

MIIT has supported the industry to set up the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group. It is now the flagship platform in China to promote 6G R&D and international cooperation. On June 2, 2022, the group signed an MoU with Europe's 6G-IA to further promote cooperation on 6G.

The success of China's 5G networks has also laid solid foundation and shared experience for the development of next-generation networks.

China has built more than 2.34 million 5G base stations, and the number of 5G mobile phone users exceeds 575 million. More than half of the 97 sectors classified for national economic activities have applied 5G technology, such as mining, ports, electricity and large aircraft manufacturing, said the minister.

By the end of this year, China's 5G base stations are expected to exceed 2.9 billion. The 5G networks will cover wider areas and be applied in more industry sectors, with a focus on manufacturing, according to MIIT, which plans to build more than 10,000 factories with applied 5G technology during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

Jin believed that the successful collaboration between the government, enterprises, and research institutes in the development of 5G networks has paved the way for future advancements in 6G technology.

With the advantage of a large domestic market and complete industrial system, China will pool strength from industries and institutions and carry out more international cooperation projects, so as to accelerate the 6G-network R&D and explore its application scenarios, according to MIIT.