China can now claim that the majority of its connections are running over 5G, with the technology powering 55% of all connections since the end 2025.
The GSMA’s Mobile Economy China 2026 report predicts 5G will account for 61% of connections in the country by the end of this year and 88% by 2030.
The performance of 5G in China so far means the nation already accounts for over 40% of global 5G connections.
China surpassed 1 billion 5G connections in 2024, highlighting the rapid adoption of the technology since its launch five years ago.
“The influence of national policy should help sustain 5G’s momentum in China”, notes the report. “The Chinese government has made 5G a national priority as part of broader goals targeting digital transformation and making the economy internationally competitive. Such goals are directly integrated into the agendas and corporate strategies of operators and network vendors, boosting the supply side of the 5G market”.
The report adds that with 5G services now firmly established, the focus of Chinese operators and vendors is shifting to 5G-Advanced.
It claims 5G-Advanced is now commercialised across more than 330 mainland cities, surpassing 10 million users.
“China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have all conducted early trials and deployments of the technology, focusing on unlocking new applications in areas such as autonomous vehicles, drones and extended reality (XR)”.
Economic impact
As always, the latest GSMA report was keen to talk up mobile’s boost to China’s economy, driving growth across industries, creating jobs and boosting gross domestic product (GDP).
Mobile technologies and services now generate around 6.2% of China’s GDP – a contribution that amounts to $1.2 trillion of economic value added. By 2030, the report states this will rise to approximately $2 trillion, equivalent to 8.3% of GDP.
“Much of this will be driven by the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the continued expansion of mobile services and the growing adoption of digital technologies, including 5G, IoT and AI”.
Usage gap
Surprisingly, there remains work to be done on ensuring everyone that lives within reach of a mobile network can access services. In fact, despite 91% internet connectivity across the country, a usage gap of 18% remains, representing millions of people yet to benefit fully from China’s digital economy. This approximate 250 million people not using mobile internet is mostly from the youngest and oldest age groups.
Source: Mobile World Live
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Source: Tahawul Tech