The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 4G licenses to three telecom giants on Wednesday. This means they could soon expand 4G services in China, injecting new impetus to China's economy to provide a new technological backbone for the country's modernization.

4G refers to the fourth generation of mobile communication technology standards. It promises super-fast data transmission speeds which are at least 10 times faster than 3G. Cellphones will evolve into an all-purpose instrument and bring more convenience for people to watch online movies and deal with more complicated work.

It's predicted that many will replace their PCs with smartphones, given decreasing shipments of PCs worldwide while the number of cellphones is increasing.

Compared to its Western counterparts, China was backward in the development and the first and second generations of mobile communication technology.

As for 3G, we set up our own standards and strove to catch up with the West. Now China is widely viewed as one of the leading powers in 4G technology and is a world leader in the development of 5G.

Analysts say that the significance of China's mobile communication technology reaching advanced international levels is comparable to that of its high-speed railways. Competition for mobile technology, which is thought to be one of the core areas of competition among major powers in the future, will not only determine the quality of life, but also the information security of the nation.

China is chasing the US and Europe when developing mobile technology. We are moving faster than expected, growing up from being a student of the West to cultivating our own competitive industry. But we still have many shortcomings. For example, our chip technology, network quality and consumption capacity for high-end products all lag behind those of the US. The US has already realized a full coverage of 4G networks, but China is just starting.

But China has the most mobile phone users in the world. Our growing demand for upgrading mobile communication technology is the strongest driving force for chasing the West in this field.

High-speed rail and 4G networks are now an ordinary facet of people's daily lives, outlining a more advanced modernization of China. It's an amazing achievement that China has fulfilled such technological ambitions in only a few decades. But we should continue our endeavors. Mobile technology hasn't always been available in some backward rural areas. China has to speed up to benefit its entire population.

China needs to input more in high technology to drive economic growth. Once China's mobile technology ranks in the forefront of the world, it may promote the appearance of first-class companies and increase China's influence in the global high technology field. This is worth expecting.