The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China granted 5G licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network Corp on June 6, marking a new chapter in China's race to popularize 5G.

"The issuance of 5G licenses came at the right time. It sends a clear signal to the industry chain. Telecom operators are now able to gain value from the new technology," said Ma Jihua, an expert in communication.

The commercial use of 5G will promote sustainable economic growth. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) predicts that by 2020-2025, China's 5G commercial use will directly drive the total economic output of 10.6 trillion yuan, creating an added value of 3.3 trillion yuan.

The bright future of 5G technology has made headlines around the world. Statistics show that by November 2018, 136 operators from 66 countries and regions had tested the technology.

China has gained competitive advantages through innovation and cooperation. Gong Daning, a senior engineer with CAICT, said the key technologies such as flexible system design and new network architecture proposed by Chinese enterprises had become an essential part of international 5G standards.

By May 2019, Chinese enterprises accounted for more than 30 percent of the total number of 5G patent claims made by 20 companies around the world. China also took the lead in launching 5G technology R&D experiments and has accelerated the construction of base stations.

As a significant participant and facilitator of the 5G network, China is willing to cooperate with other countries to advance the industry. In 2013, China founded the IMT2020 (5G) Promotion Group, including many foreign enterprises such as Ericsson and Qualcomm in the group.