(file photo)

The number of 4G users in China reached 770 million by the end of 2016, accounting for 58 percent of all the country's mobile phone users, said Zhang Feng, spokesperson and chief engineer for the Ministry of Industry and Informational Technology, at a news briefing in Beijing on Feb. 17.

China has made great progress in the research and development of TD-LTE, the nation's fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications technology, even forming a relatively complete industry chain that includes the 4G system, terminals, chips and meters. 4G technology has achieved industrialization and global commercialization. China's TD-LTE-Advanced has been accepted as a standard for 4G around the world.

China started research and development of its 5G technology early last year. Now, in the second phase, China has sped up its 5G frequency planning and will strengthen cooperation with other countries.