China has built the world's biggest 5G network with 1.6m stations

China is a world leader in 5G network quality and has already built over 1.6 million 5G base stations,a key minister said on Tuesday.

Shanghai has the country's fastest 5G and broadband and the city is developing a wide range of services based on networks including the cloud and AI.

The telecommunications sector is a strategic and leading industry in the national economy.

China has the world's largest mobile broadband and optical fiber networks, with 1.6 million 5G base stations already built, said Zhang Yunming, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Ti Gong

China's network quality is "better than the level of developed countries in the world," Zhang said during a conference for Tuesday's World Telecommunications Day, which this year has the theme of "Digital Technologies for Older Persons and Healthy Aging."

Development of the telecommunications industry helps solve problems such as poverty and the digital divide – and the country has put a focus on using high-tech to help the elderly and people in rural areas.

In Shanghai, China Mobile has built 27,000 5G base stations citywide. Deep 5G coverage is available in business centers, cultural and tourism sites and factories.

China Telecom, with 5.6 million family broadband users in Shanghai, offers a network capacity of over 1 gigabytes per second in the city – the fastest broadband network nationwide.

On Tuesday, China Telecom launched its Cloud Broadband product with "storage, security and smart" services, covering cybersecurity, gaming, livestreaming and ultra-high definition video.

The new cloud-based services are a vital part of Shanghai's efforts to resume work and production as the pandemic eases.

It's a new product that "redefines broadband," said Gong Bo, Shanghai Telecom's general manager.

The new service will gradually cover the more than 5 million existing users.