China's 5G users account for more than 70% of the world's total

The latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that as of the end of April this year, China has built the world's largest 5G network, with a total of 1.615 million 5G base stations in operation, accounting for more than 60% of the world's 5G base stations; the number of users logging on to the 5G network has reached 450 million, accounting for more than 70% of the world's 5G users. Among them, China Mobile has cumulatively opened more than 850,000 5G base stations, basically achieving continuous coverage of urban areas, county towns, and townships. It is expected that by the end of this year, the number of 5G base stations will exceed 1.1 million. China Telecom and China Unicom have built the world's first largest and fastest 5G co-construction and sharing network, with a total of 760,000 5G base stations in operation, achieving continuous 5G coverage in urban areas, county towns and key townships. It is expected that by the end of this year, the goal of commercial use of one million 5G base stations will be achieved. China Radio and Television, together with China Mobile, has completed the construction of 200,000 base stations in counties, townships and rural areas. This year, it will further complete the construction of 280,000 base stations in central urban areas, achieving continuous coverage of areas above townships and widely extending to administrative villages.

The "National Mobile Network Quality Monitoring Report" released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that China's 5G network coverage is gradually improving. The national average downlink access rate and uplink access rate of 5G networks are 334.98Mbps and 70.21Mbps respectively. The network access rate has been significantly improved compared to the 4G network.

From "3G breakthrough" and "4G synchronization" to "5G leadership", China has made new progress in 5G key technology innovation breakthroughs. The gap between key core technologies such as 5G chips and mobile operating systems and the international advanced level continues to narrow. In 2021, China's 5G mobile phone shipments reached 266 million units, a year-on-year increase of 63.5%.

Autonomous driving, industrial Internet, smart transportation, smart medical care, remote education... The pace of deep integration of 5G with traditional industries such as industry, transportation, energy, medical care, and education is accelerating. So far, there are more than 20,000 5G application cases in many areas of life such as transportation, medical care, education, culture and tourism. The integration and cross-innovation of 5G, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and industrial industries such as steel, automobiles, equipment, electronics, and petrochemicals are constantly deepening. There are more than 2,000 "5G+Industrial Internet" projects under construction, helping enterprises improve quality, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and develop green and safely.

"This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate infrastructure construction, guide the expansion of effective investment, deepen network co-construction and sharing, continuously improve the depth and breadth of network coverage, and promote the completion of the construction of 600,000 5G base stations throughout the year." Zhao Zhiguo, director of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will also implement the "Ten, Hundred, Thousand" project for 5G industry applications, select 10 vertical industries, form 100 benchmark demonstrations in each industry, and build 1,000 new 5G industry virtual private networks to create an upgraded version of "5G+Industrial Internet".

According to a report released on June 6 by the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the State Intellectual Property Office, there are currently more than 210,000 5G standard essential patents declared worldwide, involving 47,000 patent families (a patent family includes multiple patents applied for in different countries and enjoying common priority). Among them, China has declared 18,000 patent families, accounting for 40% of the world, ranking first. The target countries or regions with the most 5G standard essential patents are: the United States with 46,000, China with 39,000, and Europe with 31,000.

The report also shows that among patent applicants, Huawei has declared more than 6,500 standard essential patents, accounting for 14% of the world's total, ranking first. Among the top 15 patent applicants in the world, 7 are Chinese companies, and 2 each from the United States, Japan, Europe, and South Korea. Experts said that "radio resource management" is still the most important technical direction of 5G standard essential patents, accounting for 46.9%, followed by access technology, multi-carrier transmission, channel coding, core network, and next-generation access network. The total amount of 5G standard essential patents in these six technical directions accounts for 89.8%.