Nation grabs pole position in telecom

As the Mobile World Congress Shanghai celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, China — the world's second-largest economy — has grown from a quiet participant to a role at the center stage.

The MWC Shanghai 2023, held from June 28-30, attracted some 300 exhibitors, said its organizer, the Global System for Mobile Communications Alliance.

"I think the biggest achievement recently has been, in the earlier days of technology evolution here (3G and 4G), China was learning from the rest of the world, and now China is leading and showcasing to the rest of the world," said John Hoffman, CEO and director of GSMA Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of GSMA.

"I mean, (China is) by far the biggest market in the world — the most base stations, the most customers, the most vertical solutions; the innovation that's here has been amazing," Hoffman said.

5G is going through a turning point from quantitative growth to qualitative growth, as the nation's 5G users exceeded 561 million last year, said Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co, in a speech at the event.

For example, it is estimated that 5G directly drove 1.45 trillion yuan ($202 billion) in China's economic output in 2022, Meng said.

According to Hoffman, China had traditionally taken a more quiet stance, but of late, especially with 5G, the country has gained international prominence in telecom, and it has a great story to tell and a lot of leadership to offer.

"I think that's the biggest transformation that I've seen. Obviously, the technical transformation, the scale, no one anywhere can compare. But the mentality of taking a leadership role, I think, is the biggest transformation that I've seen," Hoffman said.

GSMA, he added, is expecting China to surpass 1 billion 5G users by 2025, and the continuous growth will not only come from new innovations for consumers and small businesses, but also from the leadership shown in connecting everything.

As the world focuses on 5G, China's vigorous promotion of R&D of 6G — the next-generation telecom technology — can give it an edge in maintaining its leading position in the sector, Hoffman added.

"Unlike many other countries where 5G and innovation are located in dense urban pockets, China has been very good at rolling out to the rural areas, leaving no one behind. And I think that is a great strength," he said. "I think that China will continue to be a leader and showcase a model for others around the world. There's no doubt that the size and the scale give great opportunities."

For the first time this year, MWC Shanghai unveiled a Digital Shanghai zone, which displayed the innovations and achievements of the Chinese industry and highlighted Shanghai's international technology vision.

Since launching the event a decade ago, MWC Shanghai has experienced the industry transit from 4G to 5G networks, and the growth of China as a mobile infrastructure and device manufacturing giant, according to the GSMA.

"When 3G was launched in China, we said we needed to be in the biggest market in the world and we made the decision to come to Shanghai because, at that time, it was the most international city, a showcase. And a lot of business was done here," Hoffman recalled.

Mats Granryd, director-general of GSMA, called Shanghai — a technology hub in the world's biggest mobile market — the natural host city for MWC in Asia.

The reason why Shanghai was chosen as the venue was not only because the city had some 25 million people, but also because of its huge investment in science and technology, he said.

"During the last decade, the amount of money being put into science and technology research has been tripled," Granryd said during a news conference ahead of the event.