The 2021 World 5G Convention kicked off in Beijing on Tuesday. The first 5G international convention attracted 34 enterprises to display over 620 mixed applications of 5G with traditional industries.

Li Meng, vice-minister of science and technology, said the world is seeing a new upsurge in research and development activities in advanced 5G technologies. In China, 5G has become a key part of "new infrastructure", and is being increasingly used in transportation, logistics, energy, medical and other fields to advance digital transformation.

As of mid-July, China had built 916,000 5G base stations, accounting for 70 percent of the world's total. The number of 5G connections has exceeded 365 million, accounting for 80 percent of the world's total, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China unveiled a three-year plan in July, which aims to nurture 560 million 5G mobile subscribers by the end of 2023, and grow the penetration rate of the fast wireless technology among big industrial enterprises to 35 percent by then.

The twin goals reflect China's vigorous promotion of the comprehensive and coordinated development of 5G and its efforts to further widen the use of 5G in order to empower a wide range of industries.

Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, said 5G is likely to help generate a total global economic output of $13 trillion from 2020 to 2035.

Information technology like 5G is a catalyst for the integration of real and virtual economies, and it can help match financial capital with the needs of production and promote industrial upgrades, Yang said.