On August 20, a Chinese government agency overseeing state-owned enterprises convened a meeting to promote the development of the sixth-generation mobile communication industry among central SOEs.
The meeting outlined key priorities for the upcoming phase, focusing on closing technological gaps, strengthening industrial foundations, boosting international collaboration, and creating new application scenarios and business models. The goal is to build a self-sustaining ecosystem for 6G commercialization.
Delegates from 31 central SOEs involved in 6G research attended the event, which also set a collective task for these state-owned companies to work together on developing application scenarios for 6G technologies.
The agency emphasized the importance of addressing technological shortcomings by investing in fundamental research, achieving breakthroughs in core components and underlying technologies, and establishing a secure, resilient supply chain for 6G. Additionally, efforts should include establishing diverse collaboration mechanisms and increasing China’s influence in international technology discussions.
Furthermore, the agency highlighted the necessity of developing innovative application scenarios and business models, fostering deeper integration of 6G with the real economy, and securing a first-mover advantage in application ecosystems. Accelerating the development of a commercially viable 6G ecosystem was also a priority.
Last November, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that China had completed initial testing of 6G technologies and entered the second phase, which involves developing prototype systems for representative applications. The third phase will focus on creating pre-commercial equipment, with full-scale commercial deployment anticipated around 2030.
In May, the MIIT approved the use of the 6-gigahertz band for 6G trials, allocating 700 megahertz of continuous spectrum from 6,425 MHz to 7,125 MHz. Industry experts describe this spectrum as “the golden spectrum.”
This band aligns well with existing 5G mid-band infrastructure and allows the industry to leverage mature global manufacturing capabilities, reducing deployment costs and enabling a smooth upgrade from 5G to 6G, an MIIT official stated.
In terms of international standards, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s Radio Access Network group completed its “6G Scenarios and Technical Requirements” project in June. China Mobile led the effort as rapporteur, and the findings will serve as a reference for the first release of 6G radio standards. These results will also inform the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector’s definitions of 6G performance benchmarks.
Several state-owned enterprises are actively planning in this sector. For instance, China Information and Communication Technology Group is researching key technologies like satellite-terrestrial network integration to meet the low latency and wide coverage needs of industrial, transportation, and defense sectors. Meanwhile, China Telecom is developing an omnipresent intelligent 6G network that employs edge computing to support factory automation and real-time digital twin simulations, along with integrated communication and sensing technologies to improve urban security and traffic management.
Experts believe that future industries such as 6G will play a pivotal role in reshaping the global economy. During China’s 14th Five-Year Plan period up to 2030, it is essential to use application scenarios to drive technological breakthroughs, with central SOEs acting as long-term investors and strategic backers, according to industry leader Gou Husheng.