A robot with a 5G sign is displayed at a China Mobile event in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province Photo: VCG

China has been working nonstop to roll out its 5G network over the past year, with local authorities across the country stepping up efforts to catch up with the 5G era, further pushing the nation to the global forefront of technology.

On Friday, Shanghai government released a plan to accelerate 5G network deployment and application, pledging to establish 10,000 5G base stations within the year and 30,000 stations by the end of 2021, according to a statement on its official website.

It is also considering a three-year plan to boost 5G application in manufacturing, traffic, medical, education and entertainment sectors, and aims to achieve a 5G application industry scale of more than 100 billion yuan ($14.54 billion) by 2021, the statement said.

Wu Qing, vice mayor of Shanghai, also made an investigation trip to ZTE on Wednesday. The telecommunications company has been proactively participating in the commercial construction and deployment of 5G networks in China. Wu visited to learn about the process of 5G commercialization and the research and development of 5G products, domestic news site stcn.com reported on Friday.

Apart from Shanghai, major cities such as Beijing, South China's Guangzhou and Shenzhen have all released specific measures to boost the ultra-fast network's development and commercialization. Phased results have already been achieved.

As of May this year, 4,300 base stations have been set up in Beijing, mainly covering core areas such as Beijing Daxing International Airport and Winter Olympics-related parks. Local authorities in Shenzhen have said they will build 7,000 5G base stations within the year and aim to rank top among global metropolises in terms of 5G network scale.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China's telecoms industry regulator, officially released the first four 5G business licenses to China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Broadcast Network on June 5, helping the country take the lead in commercializing the next generation of wireless technologies.

The official launch of 5G phones in China is also not far away, as Chinese carriers are testing 5G smartphones, including operation function tests and app tests, MIIT said in May.