China plans 50,000 5G stations this year

(ECNS) - China plans to build more than 50,000 5G base stations in 50 cities this year to further boost development of the new ultrafast mobile network, said Han Xia, head of the telecommunication management department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Tuesday.

Han said the MIIT granted seven certificates for 5G equipment and reported breakthroughs in several 5G technologies by the end of July. 

China will further accelerate construction of its 5G network with advanced technology and high quality in the next stage, said Han. Efforts will also be made to introduce policy incentives and technical standards to support development of Unicorn companies, start-up firms valued at over $1 billion, he added. 

A string of foreign companies including Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm have participated in China's 5G market as domestic companies also seek international development, said Han. 

China is moving quickly to develop 5G technologies and networks, with the MIIT granting commercial-use 5G licenses to the country's top four telecom operators in June.