China's Huawei presents its Mate X 5G cellphone at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019) (Photo/People's Daily Online)

5G technology and foldable screens are expected to stimulate the smartphone market, and could create a new market space worth over 500 billion yuan.

Insiders predict that foldable screens might be the next important direction of smartphone development, as such products frequently debuted at the 2019 Mobile World Congress (MWC).

Chinese phone makers, including Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO have all introduced their latest 5G phones with foldable screens at the event, causing quite a stir in the technical world.

Currently, the Chinese smartphone market is experiencing a decline.

China's ZTE presents its Axon 10 Pro 5G cellphone at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019). (Photo/Xinhua)

According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total shipment of domestic units in January stood at around 34.1 million, down 12.8 percent from the previous year.

Making screens larger is a consistent trend for modern smartphone developers, said Xu Xingjun, an analyst from capital market company GF Securities. However, the screen-to-body ratios of most mainstream flagship devices have all exceeded 80 percent, and the size of these devices have also risen to their limit. “In this regard, foldable screens could be the next direction for smartphone development,” Xu explained.

Industry insiders believe that 5G technology will become another hotspot for consumer electronics, and the application of foldable screens and optical zoom will stimulate customers’ desire to purchase phones.

A report issued by market surveyors Counterpoint Research forecast a shipment of 110 million 5G smartphones in 2021.