The New Times:

In recent years, information and communication technology has developed rapidly. China has built a technologically advanced 5G network, and both enterprises and the public have experienced its tangible convenience. Could you please brief us on the overall development of China's information and communication industry and the key areas of focus going forward? Thank you.

Jin Zhuanglong:

Thank you for your question. As I mentioned earlier, China's information and communication industry has been developing rapidly in recent years, and the commercialization of 5G has achieved good results. I would like to invite Mr. Zhao to answer this question.

Zhao Zhiguo:

Thank you for your question. As everyone knows from experience, in recent years, the development of China's information and communication industry has been rapid, with its strategic, foundational and pioneering roles becoming more prominent. Let me further explain it from the following aspects:

We have built a globally leading information and communication network. Broadband networks have rapidly increased from 10 megabits to 100 megabits, and now to 1 gigabit. All prefecture-level cities nationwide have been built into fiber-optic network cities, achieving "gigabit connectivity in all cities." Gigabit users account for more than 70% globally. We have built 3.837 million 5G base stations, achieving "5G connectivity in all counties," and the 5G user penetration rate has now exceeded 60%. By implementing universal telecom services, all administrative villages nationwide have achieved "broadband connectivity in all villages," and more than 90% of administrative villages have access to 5G. Network resource supply continues to expand, with nearly 20 million national top-level domain name registrations, the highest in the world. China ranks second globally in the total number of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and our computing power has reached 230 EFLOPS, capable of performing 230 quintillion floating-point operations per second, ranking among the top in the world.

We have formed a comprehensive and competitive industrial system. China's mobile communication industry has explored and developed a model featuring forward-looking research, standards-driven development, system innovation, solid network foundation and application empowerment. Currently, China accounts for 42% of the world's declared standard-essential patents for 5G, and our global market shares of 5G base stations and cellphones both exceed 50%. The resilience of the industrial chain continues to improve, providing strong support for high-quality economic and social development.

We have cultivated a thriving digital consumption market. Some of you may know that China fully connected to the international internet in 1994, with just a single 64 Kbps line, which was very slow. Since April 20, 1994, after 30 years of development, we now have 1.09 billion internet users, forming the world's largest digital consumption market. In 2023, China's online retail sales reached 15.42 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years. Mobile payments, which everyone uses daily, have grown by 239 times compared to 2012. Revenue of the software industry has exceeded 12 trillion yuan, maintaining double-digit growth for 23 consecutive years.

We are committed to creating an innovative and vibrant ecosystem for industry applications. We believe that the creation and development of such an ecosystem is of paramount importance. 5G industry applications have been integrated into 74 major categories of the national economy. We have successfully established 30,000 5G virtual private networks, 300 5G factories, and over 13,000 "5G plus industrial internet" projects. As we all know, 5G itself is an enabling technology, and the industrial internet has wide-ranging applications. Consequently, the synergy of "5G plus industrial internet" has become increasingly prominent. We have established the OpenAtom Foundation, and high-quality open-source projects such as OpenHarmony and openEuler are beginning to gain recognition on the global stage. The basic telecommunications network continues to operate safely and stably. We are constructing and developing security capabilities for new infrastructure such as the industrial internet and the internet of vehicles. Furthermore, we have essentially constructed a data security management system for the industrial sector.

Moving forward, we will focus on "construction, application, and research" to coordinate, promote, and accelerate the high-quality development of the information and communication sector. "Construction" means consolidating network facilities, steadily advancing the construction of 5G and gigabit optical networks, orderly promoting the upgrading of 5G networks to lightweight 5G and 5G-A (5G-Advanced), and solidly promoting the development of the computing industry. As we all know, computing power is now developing rapidly as a resource. At the same time, we are implementing the "signal upgrade" special initiative to further enhance 5G coverage at cultural tourism sites, healthcare facilities, universities, transportation hubs, subways and other locations. "Application" means deepening integrated applications, introducing follow-up policies to develop "dual gigabit" networks and applications, accelerating the construction of 5G factories, and creating an upgraded version of "5G plus industrial internet." "Research" means strengthening technical R&D and coordinating the evolution of 5G-A and 6G innovation. As we all know, 6G development is also accelerating, with advanced planning for ultra-high-speed optical transmission and next-generation optical networks. There is great potential for the development of optical networks in the future. At the same time, we will systematically promote pilot programs to expand the opening-up of value-added telecom services, such as data centers. We will also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international open-source organizations to jointly create high-quality open-source projects and implement their results.

That is all for my introduction. Thank you.