China strives to commercialize 6G technology around 2030

China is working to commercialize 6G, the next-generation wireless technology after 5G, around 2030, according to an official with the country's 6G promotion group.

The 6G standards are expected to be set in 2025, said Wang Zhiqin, leader of China's 6G promotion group and deputy director of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, CMG reported on Wednesday.

Wang said "everyone will start questioning if it's still necessary to boost its speed increase since 5G technology was adopted. But in fact, 6G service is more about social management, governance and being more intelligent."

"Currently, 5G base stations can only send and receive communication signals," said Wang, "But in the 6G era, the base stations will support both communication and sensing. It can use radio waves to sense the surrounding environment, the shape and movement of objects, etc., which will not only improve the performance of communication, but also will expand its commercial applications."

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced on Tuesday that China has allocated the 6GHz spectrum for 5G and 6G systems.

The 6GHz spectrum is the only high-quality resource with large bandwidth in the mid-band, taking into account its coverage and capacity advantages, the ministry said, noting that the 6GHz range is particularly suitable for the deployment of 5G or 6G systems in the future.

In the next steps, the ministry will solidify the foundations for 6G application and facilitate inter-sector collaboration to nurture a robust 6G ecosystem, while also propelling the formulation of globally unified 6G standards, said Zhang Yunming, vice minister of MIIT.

(With input from Xinhua)