China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Thursday issued 5G licenses for commercial use, marking China's official entry into the 5G era.

The licenses have been granted to China's major telecom carriers: China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network for the operation of the "fifth generation digital cellular mobile communication business."

The much-anticipated technology will not only greatly enhance the speed, coverage and responsiveness of wireless networks, but many other aspects.

Minister of MIIT Miao Wei issued the licenses and said at the granting ceremony that enterprises should take the market and business as the orientation, actively promote the integrated application and innovative development of 5G, focus on the industrial Internet, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Vehicles and other fields, and equip more vertical industries with energy and wisdom, and promote the digitization, networking and intelligent development of all industries.

"By applying 5G technology in multiple fields like manufacturing, energy, electronics, transportation, biology, the integrated innovations will greatly enhance technical innovation, give new space to Internet power, and provide strong support for the development of manufacturing," said Lu Chuncong, deputy director of the information and communications administration at MIIT.

Wang Xiaoyun, general manager of China Mobile's technical department, said within this year, 5G will be commercialized in 40 cities in China.

"Let me give you an example, a high-quality video takes only one second to download with 5G. 5G has lower latency, such as in-car networking. By using 5G, the braking reaction distance is reduced to 3 cm from the previous 1.4 meters, enhancing the safety factor," said Wang.

Miao also emphasized China's welcome for overseas-funded enterprises to participate in the 5G market.

"After the issue of 5G licenses, we as always welcome foreign enterprises to actively participate in China's 5G market, seek common development of China's 5G technologies and share the achievements."

(CGTN's Gao Yun also contributed to this story.)