Xi Guohua, chairman of China Mobile, appealed for government involvement in the global promotion and marketing of China's 4G technology, to match the government's support of high-speed rail and nuclear power.

"It is inevitable that China's 4G technology will go global, marking China's transition from the world factory to the world market – from 'Made in China' to 'Created in China'," says Hu Shuguang, associate professor at Renmin University of China.

40 percent of China's 4G users are overseas

Global 4G technology can be divided into two types: TD-LTE and FDD-LTE. TD-LTE is Chinese technology. Statistics released during the China Mobile Global Conference 2014 show that by the end of October2014, TD-LTE 4G users had exceeded 80 million, of which forty percent were overseas customers.

"China has brought 4G technology to the world through establishing base stations and providing hardware," says Hu Shuguang.

China has already built itself the world's biggest 4G network. By the end of last October, China Mobile had set up 570 thousand base stations, covering more than 300 cities, and achieved 4G roaming with 27 countries and regions.

In addition, China's domestic smartphone companies, including Huawei and ZTE, have been steadily opening up overseas markets in recent years, helping to promote China's 4G technology worldwide.

Statistics show that by the end of last October the Global TD-LTE Development Initiative (GTI) initiated by China Mobile had already admitted 114 operator members and 95 vendor partners.

Provide "one-stop" service

Experts point out that China's TD-LTE technology has seized the initiative in the global competition through its high bandwidth, wide area coverage, and rich interface mode.

In densely populated areas, China's 4G technology can provide more stable and faster internet service than FDD-LTE.

"China's 4G has tremendous potential in future development compared with FDD-LTE technology," says Hu Shuguang. TD-LTE is a platform rather than a standard; it can achieve updating and development.

China's 4G faces greater difficulties than high-speed rail and nuclear power in promoting itself overseas

In Europe and some other countries, although FDD-LTE has been widely promoted, the technology has not solved the problem of covering densely populated areas, which has opened up opportunities for TD-LTE.

However, it is difficult to promote 4G technology overseas. According to Hu Shuguang, the invisible nature of 4G technology increases the difficulty. 4G technology needs to cover the whole network of a country or region, and such a huge task is a bigger challenge than installing high-speed rail.

This article was edited and translated from 中国4G全球竞争抢先机, source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, author: Pan Xutao, Huang Xinghua, Yang Songbo.