China Targets Full Establishment of Next-Generation Communications Network by 2030

Dragon Media News Desk

Beijing. China aims to fully establish a next-generation communications network with comprehensive coverage and leading performance by 2030 under a new development plan for the information and communications industry.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued the plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period from 2026 to 2030, with the goal of promoting high-quality development across the information and communications sector.

According to the plan, China will accelerate the development of a technologically advanced, secure and controllable information and communications industrial system by 2030.

An agile and efficient governance system integrating technology and management is also expected to be effectively established, while network and data security capabilities featuring broad coordination and practical application will be significantly strengthened.

The plan also calls for further improving the industry’s ability to empower other sectors and increasing its level of globalization. These measures are intended to lay a solid foundation for basically achieving modernization of China’s information and communications sector by 2035.

The plan outlines 13 key indicators. By 2030, revenue from the information and communications industry is targeted to reach 4.1 trillion yuan, equivalent to about 604.8 billion U.S. dollars.

China also plans cumulative investment of 3.8 trillion yuan in information infrastructure during the five-year period, while targeting an average annual growth rate of 7 percent in total telecommunications business volume.

By 2030, China plans to have 50 5G base stations, including 5G-Advanced facilities, for every 10,000 people. The 5G user penetration rate is expected to reach 95 percent.

The country also plans a major expansion of intelligent computing capacity in response to the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

By 2030, intelligent computing capacity is expected to reach 9,800 EFLOPS.

One ExaFLOPS represents one quintillion floating-point operations per second and is used to measure extremely high levels of computing performance.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China is expected to continue prioritizing next-generation communications networks, computing infrastructure, broader 5G deployment, industrial internet development, artificial intelligence and research into 6G technologies.

The ministry also plans to advance research, testing and standards development for key 6G technologies, helping build the industrial and technological foundation for their future commercial application.