(Yicai Global) March 31 -- Fifth-generation mobile networks are expected to bring USD290 billion to the Chinese economy by 2030, with the manufacturing and service sectors benefiting the most, according to a recently released report.

Fifty-seven percent of 5G application achievements will likely come from the manufacturing sector and 23 percent from the service sector as of 2030, the report issued by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association on March 27 showed.

China’s minister for industry and information technology recently suggested expanding the scope of 5G applications in the national economy and spurring the manufacturing sector’s development via the ‘5G plus internet’ model. The country has set itself the goal of building over 10,000 5G-powered factories between 2021 and 2025, Jin Zhuanglong added

The growth of China’s communications services will slow in the next five years as 5G applications mature. The shift toward cloud computing, data hubs, 5G, and other corporate digital services has become an important factor driving the business performance of telecoms operators.

By 2030, 5G technologies are expected to account for more than 22 percent of the contribution of mobile technologies and services to the economy, the report noted.

China has the world’s largest 5G network, with the number of connected devices exceeding 60 percent of the global total as of the end of last year. By 2025, China will become the first market with one billion 5G connections, and by 2030, the figure is expected to hit 1.6 billion, accounting for nearly one-third of the world’s total.

Last year, mobile technologies and services contributed 5.5 percent to China’s gross domestic product, equal to USD1.1 trillion of economic value-added. The country built a total of 887,000 5G base stations throughout 2022.

This year, China will build and operate 600,000 new 5G base stations, bringing the total number to over 2.9 million, Jin said.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione