China is at the "forefront" globally of deploying 5G technology, which promises faster speed and higher bandwidth, said the GSM Association, a global industry body.

"China's major operators are all working on 5G and will be early adopters of the technology," said Mats Granryd, director-general of the GSM Association or Global System for Mobile Communications Association.

China intends to develop 5G telecommunications frequency and standard for testing and trial network operation between 2016 and 2018, before officially debuting the technology around 2020, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Qualcomm, Ericsson and Huawei have invested heavily to develop 5G in China, the world's biggest mobile communications market by subscribers.

Qualcomm, the world's biggest mobile chip designer, has set up a 5G research center with China Mobile.

Ericsson has brought a 5G "test bed" to China, the first 5G prototype in the country. Ericsson sees 5G to help in smart parking and data analysis for utility firms.

The 5G will be suitable for new applications requiring big data transfer and analysis, such as automatic driving and advanced drone control.

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