China Builds 718,000 5G Base Stations, Covering 200 Million Users

China's vice-minister of industry and information technology Liu Liehong, said over 718,000 5G base stations have been built in China, accounting roughly 70 percent of the world's total stations

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2021 ) :China's vice-minister of industry and information technology Liu Liehong, said over 718,000 5G base stations have been built in China, accounting roughly 70 percent of the world's total stations.

He stated this while addressing the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2021, the first major offline exhibition for the international mobile communications industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China has invested more than 260 billion Yuan (US $ 40.2 billion) to build the world's largest 5G network.

China now has more than 200 million 5G mobile subscribers. Last year, 167 million 5G smart phones were shipped out of factories to retailers across the nation, accounting for more than half of all smart phone shipments in China that year, according to global market intelligence firm International Data Corp, China Daily reported .

"To better tap into the superfast wireless technology, more efforts are needed to build a fair and healthy (telecom) business environment and to beef up international cooperation on 5G security," Liu said.

Experts said China's effective virus control measures made it possible to hold such a large in-person event, which would help revitalize the global telecom sector and offered a glimpse into how 5G could fuel global economic recovery.

"5G is shaping the future, and China will continue to be at the forefront of this change," said Sihan Bo Chen, China head of the telecom industry association Global System for Mobile Communications Association.

"Every sector is undergoing deep transformation, and connected progress will stimulate global recovery and help the world overcome the effects of the pandemic," she said.

Sixty-one countries around the world had 144 commercial 5G networks as of January, and more than 400 operators in 131 countries are investing in 5G networks through tests, pilots and planned or actual deployments, reflecting the mounting enthusiasm for the wireless technology, according to the GSMA.