(Yicai Global) July 18 -- The second China International Import Expo, scheduled for November, will have fifth-generation wireless network coverage in the whole venue to support advanced technologies such as driverless cars and service robots. 

Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Center has already begun the construction of 5G network infrastructure, aiming to complete it by the end of September, the fair organizer told Yicai Global. The faster internet connection will improve the quality of live broadcasting, mapping, while the public wifi will also be upgraded. 

China's first CIIE, held last November, gathered over one million attendees hailing from 172 countries and regions. More than 3,600 firms participated to showcase their products to Chinese buyers, some of whom had traveled across the vast country. 

A better network may prove useful for navigation inside the massive exhibition halls. This year's fair will link up last year's Dynamic Weighted Evolution for Location Tracking system, developed by a team at Shanghai's Tongji University in collaboration with Tencent's WeChat, with 5G to provide visitors with an indoor mapping mini-program. 

The public wifi connection in the venue will be rejigged to meet the needs of the expected 10,000 people in the main exhibition hall, and 4,000 visitors on the small hall. The download speed should reach 200 kilobytes per second.

Editor: Emmi Laine