2024 Saw China's Telecom Business Revenue Exceed 1.7 Trillion Yuan and 5G Base Stations Reach 4.25 Million
ICC Information News -- On January 21, the State Council Information Office held a press conference titled "Achievements of High-Quality Economic Development in China." Xie Cun, Director of the Information and Communication Development Department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), highlighted that information infrastructure is a prerequisite for the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy.
In 2024, MIIT coordinated planning and innovation to continuously enhance the construction and application of new information infrastructures, accelerating the modernization of the information and communication industry, which achieved significant results. Annual telecom revenue exceeded RMB 1.7 trillion, with total telecom volume growing by 10% year-on-year.
Significant Enhancement in Network Infrastructure Capabilities
China has built the world's largest mobile communication and fiber broadband networks, with 4.25 million 5G base stations, over 200 million gigabit users, achieving "gigabit access in every county and 5G coverage in every township." For the first time in 30 years, six new international gateway offices were approved, bringing the total number of internet backbone direct connection points to 29. Mobile IoT accelerated its transition from "mass connectivity" to "smart connectivity," with terminal users exceeding 2.6 billion. The number of standard racks in operational data centers surpassed 8.8 million, representing a 16.5% increase compared to the end of 2023.
Substantial Improvement in Technological and Industrial Strength
In terms of mobile networks, China holds 42% of global essential patents for 5G standards, with lightweight 5G core networks and customized base stations entering commercial use. For fixed networks, breakthroughs were made in hollow-core optical fibers and high-speed optoelectronic modules, with large-scale deployments of 400GB long-distance transmission and fiber-to-the-room technologies. In satellite communications, "direct satellite phone connections" are rapidly being commercialized. Industry enterprises have grown stronger, with China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom ranking among the top 10 globally, and nine platform companies making it into the top 30 global internet market capitalizations.
Enhanced Application Empowerment
Applications of 5G, gigabit optical networks, and computational innovations have been widely promoted in sectors such as industry, healthcare, and energy, with outstanding case numbers reaching 138,000, 37,000, and 13,000 respectively. Over 4,000 5G factories have been established nationwide, with the penetration rate of digital research and design tools in key industrial enterprises reaching 84.1%, reducing the average development cycle by nearly 30%. The number of 5G mobile phone users surpassed 1 billion, with a population penetration rate exceeding 71%, and monthly per-user mobile data usage reached 19 GB. The flourishing of smart product applications has contributed to forming the world's largest digital consumer market, with a digital consumption scale surpassing RMB 6 trillion.
Improved Industry Business Environment
Further opening up was implemented in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen, initiating pilot programs to expand foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services. Electronic licenses were comprehensively promoted, issuing 23,500 electronic licenses for value-added telecom business operations. The number of information and communication enterprises reached 177,000, increasing by 11% year-on-year, nearly quintupling over the past decade. Among them, private enterprises accounted for over 93%, and the number of foreign-invested telecom enterprises grew by 31%, fully unleashing market vitality.
For 2025, MIIT will continue to focus on "construction, application, and research" to promote three upgrades in the development of the information and communication industry: network evolution upgrade, enhancing policies for upgrading dual-gigabit networks, piloting the deployment of ten-gigabit optical networks, and orderly optimizing the layout of data center constructions; fusion application upgrade, creating an upgraded version of the "5G Application Sail Plan" and "5G + Industrial Internet," accelerating the comprehensive adoption of next-generation information technology; and innovation capability upgrade, increasing investment in 5G evolution and 6G technology innovation, appropriately expanding the openness of telecom services, and promoting the sustained and healthy development of the information and communication industry.
