China's three telecom giants, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, have made plans to launch commercial service of a 5G network by 2020. They plan to build and begin testing of 5G pilot networks as early as 2017, according to a report in Economic Information Daily. The three operators might even start to build the actual 5G network in 2018 if everything goes well with their preparatory work.

Since the beginning of 2016, China has been moving forward with 5G technology research and development, even building an open platform for 5G development tests, according to Zhang Feng, chief engineer at China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 　　

Preliminary reports show that the maximum 5G transmission rate can reach up to several dozen gigabits per second (Gb/s), a big jump from the 4G maximum of 100 megabits per second (Mb/s). The faster speed will better serve the public's rising expectations for data transmission. In addition, research from the EU shows that 5G technology will be capable of connecting 7 trillion wireless devices serving 7 billion people, provided that all networks in the world are eventually updated to be 5G. 

Most industry insiders currently hold that widespread 5G networks will help promote the development of the "Internet of Things," a term describing the idea that most devices with an on/off switch will eventually be capable of connecting to the Internet. If their prediction comes to pass, the Internet of Things will likely be worth trillions of yuan once it is fully commercialized.

Many market institutions believe that technologies such as big data, cloud computing, smart home appliances and drones have entered a new, mature stage, but the development of these industries is still restricted by 4G telecommunications.