As
part of its 14th Five Year Plan, China plans to increase support for
research and development into 6G or sixth generation internet. 6G is
said to come after current 5G technology though no global standards or
definition have been agreed upon yet.
Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
China
is aiming to boost the digital economy’s share of its gross domestic
product by 2025, driven by next-generation technologies like 6G internet
and big data.
The ambition highlights China’s push to get ahead
in new technology as it continues a rivalry with the U.S. in areas from
semiconductors to artificial intelligence.
In
a document released last week, China’s State Council, the country’s top
executive body, said “core industries of the digital economy” will
account for 10% of its GDP by 2025, up from 7.8% in 2020.
The targets are part of China’s 14th Five Year Plan, a development blueprint that runs from 2021 to 2025. Last year,
China highlighted areas of “frontier technology”
for which it will boost research and aim for self-sufficiency in. The
latest State Council document also gives more specific targets for the
coming few years.
For example, China is aiming for national online
retail sales to rise from 11.76 trillion yuan in 2020 to 17 trillion
yuan in 2025. It expects the software and information technology
industry to rise from 8.16 trillion yuan in 2020 to 14 trillion yuan in
2025.
China anticipates users of gigabit broadband, the current
fastest internet connection speed, to increase from 6.4 million in 2020
to 60 million in 2025.
In fact, boosting internet connections and speeds is part China’s strategy to boost the digital economy’s share of GDP.
China
will promote the commercial deployment and large-scale application of
5G, according to the plan. 5G relates to next-generation internet that
promises super fast speeds. It has already started rolling out in China
and other countries.
But Beijing’s plan also lays out ambitions in
6G or sixth-generation internet. China plans to increase support for 6G
research and development and be involved in the creation of
international standards for 6G. China began
laying the foundations for work on 6G in 2019. Fifth generation has only just started rolling out and there are no agreed standards or definitions of what 6G is yet.
The world’s second-largest economy also aims to take a bigger role in shaping technology standards around the world,
a move analysts said could have big implications for the power Beijing
wields in areas from mobile internet to artificial intelligence.
Standards are often globally agreed upon technical rules for how
technologies work.
Regulation, chips in focus
China’s
plan also continues themes of self-sufficiency in areas like
semiconductors. The document includes other areas like cloud computing,
building data centers and cross-border e-commerce.
Beijing also
pledged to continue regulatory oversight on the domestic technology
sector. Over the past year, China has tightened regulation for internet
companies and brought in new laws in areas from antitrust to data protection.
The
State Council document said it would explore establishing governance
methods that are compatible with the “sustainable and healthy
development of the digital economy.” Beijing also said it would clarify
the responsibilities of various regulators and strengthen collaboration
between different authorities.