Beijing aims to improve its public IT services and begin piloting 5G networks in 2018, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
The commission expects the city to have complete coverage of 4G networks by 2020, and to begin commercial test runs of 5G in Beijing's subsidiary administrative center, the 2019 Beijing World Horticultural Expo, Beijing's new airport, and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
While 4G (fourth generation) networks boast data transmission speeds of around 1 gigabyte per second, 5G networks are designed to increase that tenfold while drastically reducing network latency.
Zhang Boxu, director of the commission, said that Beijing is technically ready to test run 5G, which will become available after the national standards are established.
China Unicom has applied to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for approval for 5G test runs in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Xiongan.
IT experts are expecting key hurdles will be cleared for 5G's commercial use by 2019, and that the new network will be available nationwide by 2020.
Zhang said Beijing will also speed up building and delivering smart services and facilities in its subsidiary administrative center this year.
Moreover, in an effort to build the capital into a "smart city," Beijing will issue 2 million smart cards -- known as the "Beijing Pass 2.0" --which consolidates the functions of social security cards, medical insurance cards, and public transportation passes.
The commission also announced another 18 free WiFi hotspots that cover public facilities and tourist attractions across different districts in Beijing. Users can connect to the WiFi hotpots under the name of "-MyBeijing-" by registering with their mobile phone numbers.