6G File Photo: VCG

The US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced on Monday the launch of the "Call to Action for 6G Leadership and Security." The move is an attempt by Washington to seek to blunt China's influence over the next generation of telecommunications, according to the US media outlet POLITICO.

According to POLITICO, the US effort is intended to serve as a counterweight to China's telecom ambitions and the global reach of companies such as Huawei and ZTE.

A veteran Chinese industry analyst said that this move reflects Washington's habitual practice of forming "small circles" while seeking to contain China's technological development in an attempt to maintain its own edge.

However, any attempts to exclude certain countries from technological cooperation would not be able to halt a country's technological progress, but would instead risk undermining innovation and disrupting the global technology ecosystem, including in the US itself, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Xiang pointed to previous politically motivated attempts by the US to hold back China's technological progress on 5G development.

China has already accumulated more than 300 key 6G technologies during the first phase of its technology trials, with Chinese entities accounting for more than 40 percent of global 6G patent applications, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's telecommunication advancement comes from a combination of large-scale network deployment, a complete telecom ecosystem, strong research and development capabilities and widespread industrial applications, providing a solid foundation for 6G development, Xiang said.

China's 6G development is built on its progress and technological foundation established through 5G.

In June, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association released its Mobile Economy China 2026 report, which showed that China's 5G connections accounted for more than 40 percent of the global total. The report also estimated that mobile technologies contributed $1.5 trillion in economic value to China in 2025, equivalent to 7.2 percent of the country's GDP, with the figure expected to rise to $2.1 trillion by 2030.

China's achievements in 5G took place despite several attempts by the US to hinder its development.

For example, in October, 2025, the US reportedly tightened rules on telecoms gear made by Chinese companies "deemed a national security risk," but in the end adding additional costs to the US own 5G applications.

Chinese telecom companies deliver some of the best telecom technologies in the world at a competitive price, Xiang said, giving examples of the slow progress and hefty cost of the US Federal Communications Commission's $3 billion "rip-and-replace" program, which aims to remove equipment from China-based vendors from US telecom networks.

According to estimates by analysts at Recon Analytics, Huawei and ZTE charged 30 to 50 percent less than their market rivals, Reuters reported.

"The real handicap that barricades the US' rapid telecom development is not China but the US' unilateral mindset," Ma Jihua, an industry analyst, told the Global Times, noting that if the US truly wants to accelerate its 6G development, it should adjust its previous approach of treating China as an opponent. Instead, it should pursue cooperation.

Telecommunications is a globally interconnected industry that advances through collaboration and open innovation, and the two major economies have significant potential to expand cooperation in areas such as technology research, standard-setting and industrial applications for the benefit of both sides and beyond, Ma said.