Han Xia, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: From 3G popularization to 5G commercial use, China has built the world’s largest network infrastructure
On June 14, the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee held a press conference on the achievements of industrial and informatization development since the 18th CPC National Congress. Han Xia, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said at the press conference that China has built the world’s largest network infrastructure with advanced technology, with comprehensive capabilities leapfrogging from 3G popularization to 5G commercial use. Going forward, MIIT will promote the deep coverage of 5G networks, implement the “Sail” action plan for 5G application, accelerate the large-scale application of 5G and other emerging technologies, continue to expand industrial opening and cooperation, and contribute to high-quality economic development and continuous improvement of people’s livelihood.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the information and communication industry has achieved leapfrog development. It plays an increasingly prominent strategic, fundamental and pioneering role in the overall economic and social development, providing a solid foundation and strong support for accelerating the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a strong Internet country and a digital China. It is mainly manifested in five aspects.
First, the comprehensive capacity of infrastructure has been leapfrogging from copper wire to optical fiber, from 3G popularization to 5G commercial use. Build the world’s largest network infrastructure with leading technology. The historic completion of the “light into copper back” transformation project, all prefecture-level cities fully built optical network cities, 100 megabit and above access rate users from zero, accounting for 93.4%, the number of gigabit users exceeded 50 million. The scale of 4G base stations accounts for more than half of the global total, while the number of 5G base stations has reached 1.615 million, and the number of 5G mobile phone users has exceeded 400 million.
Second, breakthroughs in key and core technologies were accelerated, and the strength of the technology industry was significantly enhanced. From “3G breakthrough” and “4G synchronization” to “5G leadership” in mobile communications technology, Chinese companies claimed 38.2 percent of necessary patents for 5G standards. China has built the world’s largest and most complete optical communication industry system. Some key technologies such as optical communication equipment, optical module devices, optical fiber and cable have reached the international advanced level, and a number of global leading enterprises have emerged.
Third, the application of innovation is expanding from consumption to production, forming the largest, most active and most promising digital service market in the world. The annual transaction volume of mobile payment has reached 527 trillion yuan. The new economy has created more than 20 million flexible jobs. The number of applications in the 5G industry has exceeded 20,000. The strategy for innovation and development of the industrial Internet has been fully implemented, and a “Chinese plan” has been developed to match the development stage of the manufacturing sector, and to “make up lessons, improve and innovate” in parallel.
Fourth, information services will be of better quality and cheaper prices, and digital services will be accessible to all. China has achieved the historic implementation of “broadband access” in administrative villages, the proportion of primary and secondary schools with broadband access has increased from 25 percent to 100 percent, and telemedicine has covered all counties out of poverty. Internet speed increases and fee cuts have been implemented. The average download rate of broadband networks has increased by nearly 40 times, and the average charge per unit of mobile network traffic has fallen by more than 95 percent. The travel card has provided nearly 60 billion public service inquiries, giving strong support to the normal epidemic prevention and control and smooth travel of the people.
Fifth, the industry management and security system continued to improve. A new supervision mechanism based on credit management has been gradually established, and enterprise compliance, industry ecological openness and user satisfaction have all been significantly improved. Telecom network fraud and other hot and difficult issues have been effectively dealt with, and the number of complaints from users of spam messages has dropped to a historic low. The national network infrastructure security capability has been comprehensively enhanced, a data security management system in the industry and information technology sector has taken shape, and the overall strength of the network security industry has rapidly increased.
In the next step, the MIIT will promote the deep coverage of 5G networks, implement the “Sail” action plan for 5G application, accelerate the large-scale application of 5G and other emerging technologies, continue to expand industrial opening and cooperation, and contribute to high-quality economic development and continuous improvement of people’s livelihood, Han said.
