CRNTT:
As a strategic emerging industry, the development of 5G has always been of great concern. Please tell us about the current construction and development of 5G in China, and what other key initiatives will be taken by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to promote the development of 5G during the 14th Five-Year Plan period? Thank you.
Xiao Yaqing:
Thank you for your question. China began its 5G network construction relatively early and has been leading the world in the number of total base stations, the quality of its network and the construction level of its communication equipment. We have world-leading enterprises. For example, Huawei, ZTE and other businesses have cooperated with globally renowned firms such as NOKIA and Ericsson.
From a domestic perspective, we have just introduced that we have built over 718,000 5G base stations and invested over hundreds of billions of yuan in 5G, which now basically covers all cities above prefecture level across the country. We have arranged base stations in a standalone model, and provided services with large broadband and low latency with full use of network slicing technology. The scale of users has surged and the statistics change every day. Our 5G terminal connections exceed 200 million, probably the largest in the world. Satisfaction with 5G services is also higher than that of 4G compared with the same period of development. The average household usage of 5G mobile traffic is 50% higher than that of 4G. And the price per gigabyte is 4.4 yuan, down 46% in the past two years, and will decrease further in the future. Last year, the number of mobile phone terminals shipped reached 163 million units, with a large volume of 218 new models launched in the market. Innovative applications are increasingly abundant. In the consumer sector, 5G+Ultra HD and 5G+AR/VR technologies are widely used, and areas like gaming and entertainment, live events and residential services are being explored and practiced. Education and medical cares can provide services using 5G plus artificial intelligence and plus big data technology. During last year's epidemic prevention and control, our family education and smart medical care developed greatly. In the past two years, due to the rapid development of the "5G+industrial internet", there are now over 1100 projects under construction across the country, which have many very promising applications. I suggest you to have a look at COMAC in Shanghai, whose 5G application is very powerful. In the coal mines of Yangquan, north China's Shanxi province, the efficiency of underground production management and level of security have been constantly improved. Other good applications can also be found in Hunan Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. and Xiamen port. 5G has greatly promoted the development of those sectors.
Next, we will firstly cement the industrial foundation. Our country has a solid foundation to further achieve the development of 5G technology, with a batch of advanced big companies like Huawei. Secondly, we will deepen integrated application to promote technological innovation in various industries. Enterprises such as China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have done well in this regard. Thirdly, we will further open to the outside world and expand international cooperation. We should strengthen international communication and cooperation throughout the 5G development process, from R&D and application of technologies to the construction of facilities. During this upgraded process, we will build an industrial ecology for global coordination and a safer and more open environment for development with more mutual trust so that the benefits of innovative development can reach people all over the world. Of course, the development of the 6G industry, as I just said, is now in its exploratory stage. We are working with the international community in this regard to promote the development of common standards, long-term demands, and mature technologies. Next, we need to communicate and discuss with friends in this industry from all over the world to promote further development. Thank you.
