China issues 5G licenses

China issues 5G licenses for commercial use on Thursday. [Photo/CCTV.com]

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued commercial licenses for 5G on Thursday, according to China Central Television.

Four major telecom carriers -- China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network -- received the first batch of four 5G commercial licenses, said the report.

As of May, Chinese companies account for more than 30 percent of all essential patents related to international standards for 5G, according to a previous China Daily report.

The next-generation tech is expected to be at least 10 times faster than 4G, and its huge capacity to connect things will enable smart factories, self-driving vehicles and other applications, the report said.

China's big three telecom carriers are forecast to spend 900 billion to 1.5 trillion yuan ($134 billion to $223 billion) in total on 5G network construction from 2020 to 2025, according to a report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

China is set to become the world's largest 5G market by 2025, with 460 million 5G users, according to a forecast by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, an industry group.

Editor: John Li