Technology that will transform social life

In the development of mobile communication technology from 1G to 5G, Chinese mobile communications have made great advancements. For example, China has accounted for 21 items in the 5G standards that have been drawn up for the world, while the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea possess 9, 14, 4 and 2 items respectively. In particular, the Polar Code of Huawei has been accepted as the control channel code by 3rd Generation Partnership Project, which is regarded as a significant breakthrough for Chinese mobile telecommunication in the international standard formulation.

And in intellectual property, based on statistics from a foreign patent analysis company, the number of standard essential patents Chinese companies have applied for accounts for more than 30 percent, and Huawei ranks first for such applications and OPPO 11th.

5G is not only the most advanced mobile communication technology available at the moment-research is already under way on 6G-it is also a technology that will transform social life.

It is noteworthy that 5G is able to provide technological support for equipment connectivity and the transmission of massive amounts of data and this will enable the internet of things, driverless vehicles, virtual reality and smart cities. For example, it will enable smart homes that make life easier for people, and effectively help alleviate traffic congestion in cities and create a safer driving experience.

Moreover, 5G can realize integrated connection and remote control of equipment, personnel and production, which will greatly improve the production efficiency and intelligent manufacturing level of enterprises.

It is believed that China holds favorable conditions in four aspects for the development of 5G in the future. First, the consumer market is huge in China. It is estimated that Chinese 5G users will number 576 million by 2025 accounting for 40 percent in the world, which means it would give huge market for 5G commercialization.

Second, with the high maturity of 4G technology, China has the world's largest and most extensive 4G networks, and with its 40 percent of 4G base stations in the world, the equipment such as electric power source and transmission optical cables will provide a solid foundation for the construction of 5G networks.

Third, China has formulated complete mobile communication industry chains composed of telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, components suppliers and downstream application services. Therefore, these factors provide an advantageous industry ecological environment for the commercialization of 5G.

Fourth, China has cultivated world-known internet companies such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. On one hand, these companies have accumulated rich data sources. On the other hand, they have strong computing power, algorithms and technological innovation capability. Therefore, there is no doubt that they will give new impetus to the development of 5G applications.

In June 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially issued licenses for the commercialization of 5G to China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Broadcasting Network Corporation Ltd, which signaled that 2019 was the first year of 5G commercialization in China. Owing to its technological advantages and huge market potential, it is expected that Chinese 5G will transform to powerful industrial advantages and economic dynamics.

As many countries have put much emphasis on 5G technological innovation, China still needs to make continuous efforts to maintain its leading position in 5G, while sharing the benefits of its 5G technology with the people of the world.

The author is a researcher at the Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.