AI demand reshapes China's internet infrastructure plans

(ECNS) -- China's rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is creating new demands on communications infrastructure and driving upgrades to next-generation internet and computing networks, officials and industry executives said Wednesday at the China Internet Conference.

Zhong Zhihong, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said China remains a global leader in research on 5G-Advanced and 6G technologies. He added that 5G and gigabit broadband networks have been deployed across major industrial sectors.

Industry participants said AI models and intelligent agents are driving growing demand for bandwidth, low-latency connectivity and computing resources.

Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said global internet traffic is expected to rise sharply by 2030, with AI-related traffic accounting for about 60% of the total.

Executives from major telecom operators, including China Mobile and China Telecom, said future development would focus on integrating computing and network resources and enabling wider deployment of AI applications.

(By Zhang Jiahao)