Photo: Xinhua

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will invest 2.35 billion yuan ($331.9 million) in 5G development for 2020, and will include 4,140 5G base stations, Xinjiang Daily reported on Sunday.

Urumqi, the regional capital city, will build 1,773 5G stations, the report also said.

The advanced technology will be used for industrial parks and tourist attractions, according to local officials, and is aimed at boosting local tourism and economic growth.

The same report said that authorities accelerated the development pace by creating and formulating policies aimed at 5G construction, and also introduced electricity price support policies to ensure power supply.

Construction of 5G base stations in Urumqi, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, and Kashgar in Northwest Xinjiang has been relatively fast. Densely populated commercial and main urban areas have been almost all been covered.

By 2022, when deep coverage of the 5G network in the central urban area is complete, the technology will extend to qualified towns, rural areas, and regiments, Xinjiang Daily reported.

In 2019, Xinjiang's information and communication industry invested 126 million yuan in building 518 5G demonstration and commercial pilot stations. In October, Urumqi emerged as one of the first 5G cities in China.

At the end of February, Xinjiang had over 20 million mobile internet users and 69,600 5G package users, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Xinjiang's push in building the next-generation network arrives as the country has intensified efforts to roll out a 5G network. 

By the end of 2020, the country anticipates over 600,000 fully operational 5G base stations, with 5G smartphone shipments reaching 180 million units, said an official with the country's top information technology watchdog.

"Saturday marks the 1st anniversary of 5G commercialization in China. Over the past year, China has built over 250,000 5G bases, and the number of 5G users exceeded 36 million," said Lu Chuncong, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, during an online conference held over the weekend.