China surpasses five-year plan targets in telecommunications development

China’s telecommunications sector exceeded key targets set under the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

By the end of 2025, China had put 4.838 million 5G base stations into operation nationwide, surpassing the planned target by 8.4 units per 10,000 people. More than 330 cities have been covered by 5G-Advanced (5G-A) networks, while the total length of fibre-optic cable reached 74.99 million kilometres, Chinese media reports. 

The telecommunications industry generated revenue of 1.75 trillion yuan ($250.8 billion), with about 25% coming from emerging sectors such as cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data centres.

Gigabit broadband access has now been extended to all counties across the country, and more than 95% of villages are covered by 5G networks. The total number of mobile subscribers rose to 1.827 billion, including 1.204 billion 5G users. Meanwhile, the number of connected IoT terminals increased to 2.888 billion.

China also strengthened its position in global telecommunications standards, accounting for 42% of worldwide patent applications related to 5G technology. The country has additionally made interim progress in the research and development of sixth-generation (6G) communications technologies.

By Sabina Mammadli