5G off to 'good start,' say regulators

More than 870,000 people in China have subscribed to 5G packages, representing a “good start” to commercial use of 5G networks, the country's industry regulator said on Thursday.

China is expected to build 130,000 5G base stations in 2019, compared with the existing 113,000 5G base stations now.

Meanwhile, China welcomes global companies to develop 5G and offers “fair and open” systems for them, said Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, during a 5G conference in Beijing.

In 2020, China’s 5G user base is expected to hit 200 million. China has the conditions to develop 5G thanks to government support, a complete industry chain and a huge smartphone user base, said Xu Zhijun, rotating chairman of Huawei.

Xiaomi has built a “future factory” to research and produce smartphones with annual capacity of 1 million units, including 5G models, said Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s chairman and CEO.