On 5 July 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published the Action Plan for 5G Application alongside another 9 ministries including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
The integrated application of 5G is an important engine for promoting digitalization, network application, and intelligent transformation. This Action Plan is formulated to promote the comprehensive and coordinated development of 5G to empower various industries. It is proposed in the Action Plan that, by the end of 2023, the penetration of individual 5G users should exceed 40 percent, with more than 560 million users. More than 35 percent of large industrial enterprises should apply 5G technology among vertical industries. There should also be more than 18 5G base stations per 10,000 people and more than 3,000 virtual 5G networks provided for the industries.
The Action Plan also specifies the 15 sectors that should be integrated into using 5G technology, including information consumption, integrated media, industrial Internet, Internet of Vehicles, intelligent logistics, intelligent port, intelligent mining, smart power, intelligent oil and gas operation, intelligent agriculture, intelligent water conservancy, smart education, Wise Information Technology of Medicine (WITMED), cultural tourism, and smart city, in order to:
i) promote the upgrading of information consumption;
ii) deepen the integration of 5G and various industries, and;
iii) facilitate services of the people’s livelihood.
The development of 5G technology is based on its security. The Action Plan states that enterprises should incorporate the 5G application security risk assessment into the 5G application R&D and promotion. China will improve the security standard system for 5G applications, via support enterprises in strengthening their capabilities in 5G application security assessment, testing and certification, and supporting self-assessment and third-party assessment of 5G application security.
