China’s 6G Layout Strengthens: Leading the Future of Global Communication

China’s commitment to 6G development has been further consolidated this year, with the technology explicitly listed as a key future industry in the Government Work Report, according to Xinhua News Agency. Following its first inclusion in the report last year, the sustained emphasis on 6G underscores China’s long-term strategic vision to seize the commanding heights of future industrial competition, demonstrating firm determination in accelerating the construction of new information infrastructure.

Industry insiders often compare 5G to an information highway, while 6G is regarded as an integrated space-air-ground intelligent transportation network. Experimental data shows that 6G’s theoretical peak rate is approximately 100 times that of 5G: a 1GB high-definition video can be downloaded in the blink of an eye with 6G, whereas it takes 6 seconds with 5G and over one minute with 4G. Additionally, 6G boasts one-tenth of 5G’s latency, 10 to 100 times its connection density, and enhanced stability, reliability and anti-interference capabilities in high-speed mobile scenarios, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

“6G is not a simple speed upgrade of 5G, but a leap from connection to intelligence,” said Wang Jian, a senior researcher at Zijinshan Laboratory. Experts describe 6G as an “all-round champion” for its three enhanced performances—high speed, low latency and massive connectivity—and three integrated capabilities: space-air-ground integration, communication-intelligence integration, and communication-sensing integration. This enables full coverage across land, sea, air and space, with an embedded AI brain for automatic optimization and intelligent scheduling, supporting scenarios such as holographic communication, digital twins and unmanned systems.

The industry has long adhered to the notion that “even-generation mobile communications achieve greater success”. While odd generations (1G, 3G, 5G) focus on technological breakthroughs and scenario exploration, even generations (2G, 4G) realize technological maturity and application popularization, transforming technological dividends into tangible social and industrial progress. By this logic, 6G is expected to become another landmark technology reshaping society and empowering industries, following 2G and 4G.

China has already established a leading edge in the global 6G race. As of June 2025, China’s 6G patent applications accounted for about 40.3% of the world’s total, ranking first globally, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. The country has completed the first phase of 6G technical trials, accumulated over 300 key technical reserves, and launched the second phase. Zijinshan Laboratory has built the world’s first end-to-end 6G comprehensive test platform and released the world’s first cell-free communication-intelligence-sensing integrated outdoor test network with wide-area low-altitude coverage.

Industry experts stress that 6G’s bright prospects do not negate 5G’s value. On the contrary, 5G has laid a solid foundation for 6G through technological standards, network construction and industrial ecology. It has promoted the shift from consumer internet to industrial internet, accumulating rich experience in manufacturing, smart transportation and telemedicine. It is widely anticipated that 6G will be commercially launched around 2030, with 5G and 6G advancing in coordination to build China’s digital communication layout.

With steady progress and intergenerational inheritance, China is poised to take the initiative in the next wave of communication technology, leveraging digital innovation to empower the real economy and drive high-quality development.