(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE introduced its first fifth-generation wireless communications network smartphone today at the Mobile World Conference 2019.

ZTE's 5G flagship handset that debuted at the fair is set to go on sale in Europe and China in the first half.

The company's A-shares [SHE:000063] and H shares [HK:0763] climbed in today's morning session in anticipation of this launch, which the company announced Feb. 18, but then showed a mix at the close, which was 30 minutes before the fair opened in Barcelona, Spain, seven time zones behind. 

ZTE's A-shares went up 8.87 percent to CNY30.31 (USD4.532), but its H-shares fared less well, ending up only 1.71 percent higher at HKD23.75 (USD3.02).

The other big smartphone brands of China's Oppo Electronics, Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies also recently cut the ribbons on their new 5G sets and so the market may well have started its get its fill of the new technology.

The commercialization of 5G started with China Mobile's recent opening in succession of its 5G base station and fiber-optic cable bid tenders. China will build 10 to 15 million 5G base stations this year, projections hold, of which ZTE is expected to contract about 30 percent, a report by financial institution Sinolink Securities said. Results of third-stage 5G evaluation show the firm's testing procedures to be ahead of those of its overseas rivals.

The company also released a new lineup of Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles and mobile broadband products.

The MWC 2019 runs from today to Feb. 28.

Editor: Ben Armour