▲ Drawing: Cai Huawei Data source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology In June 2019, the 5G commercial license was officially issued. In the past four years, China has built the world's largest 5G network, with continuous improvement in network coverage, expansion of integrated applications, and enhanced support for digital development. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of April this year, the number of 5G base stations in China has reached 2.733 million, accounting for 60% of the global total; The number of 5G mobile phone users reaches 634 million, and the 5G network covers all prefecture level and county level urban areas. The compact integrated base station of synesthesia and computing allows cars to have "eyes" and achieve intelligent driving; The 5G+digital factory not only reduces the cost of steel per ton for steel groups, but also achieves emission reduction and efficiency enhancement; At the scene of polar scientific research and forest fire rescue, the integration of 5G private network and low orbit satellite broadband communication system provides wireless communication support. 5G has been integrated into over 60% of the national economic categories, including intelligent manufacturing, smart healthcare, smart education, and digital government, which is causing changes in various industries. How is the progress of 5G construction? What innovative applications are there? The reporter conducted a visit. China adheres to the principle of moderate advancement in network construction and breakthroughs in key technologies, promotes the use of construction, actively and steadily promotes the construction of 5G networks, and significantly improves the breadth and depth of network coverage. "In the past four years, the China Tower has contracted to build 1.89 million 5G base stations, 96% of which are realized by sharing existing resources. The total mileage of high-speed rail and subway 5G coverage is nearly 40000 kilometers, and the indoor 5G coverage area of key sites exceeds 8 billion square meters, saving 176 billion yuan in industry investment and reducing 26 million tons of carbon emissions." Zhang Zhiyong, chairman of the China Tower, said. Dong Xin, General Manager of China Mobile, stated that the company plans to add 360000 5G base stations in 2023. "We will deeply implement the '5G+' plan, innovatively deploy the computing network, efficiently operate the middle platform, and promote the key variable of informatization into an important increment of Chinese path to modernization." The network construction has laid a solid foundation, and the key technologies of 5G have also achieved historic breakthroughs. At present, China has become the leading force in 5G standardization, and the number of necessary patent declarations for 5G standards accounts for 42.2% of the global total. Experts point out that the main challenges faced by the commercialization of 5G are insufficient capabilities, difficulty balancing functionality and cost, and other technical challenges that can be gradually solved in the 5G wave represented by 5G-Advanced. 5G Advanced, also known as 5.5G, is an evolving technology between 5G and 6G. It is understood that both the uplink and downlink peaks of 5G Advanced are expected to increase by 10 times compared to existing 5G networks, improve connection density by 10 times, improve positioning accuracy by 10 times, and improve energy efficiency by 10 times. "In the next two years, 5G Advanced will enter the Key Stage of connecting the past and the future, and the application scenarios will be further enhanced. Some low-cost, differentiated and widely covered IOT will provide better support for creating new application scenarios." Wang Zhiqin, vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communications, said. Technology first, infrastructure assistance. In the past four years, the rapid development of 5G has not only driven the information and communication industry to leap forward