The Zhanjiang 5G Conference was held on Aug 30 with more than 300 government leaders, as well as representatives of enterprises and institutions discussing 5G innovation development and market trends and exploring the rapid development of smart industries.

Jiang Jianjun, mayor of Zhanjiang, introduced the current development of the city. Zhanjiang has been given strong support in its major industrial layout and transportation infrastructure planning as the intersection of the three major national strategies of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hainan Free Trade Zone, and the Beibu Gulf City Cluster.

At present, Zhanjiang has introduced a number of world-famous enterprises such as Baosteel, Sinopec, BASF, CSIC, China Merchants Group, and OCT. It has also accelerated transportation infrastructure construction of Zhanjiang International Airport, Zhanjiang Port, as well as highways.

The city is now making every effort to seize new opportunities for the development of the 5G industry and foster new forms of the digital economy. In March of this year, Zhanjiang opened the first 5G site in western Guangdong, carrying out 5G pilot applications around the steel, education, aquatic products, medical care, and port industries. To date, 22 5G base stations have been built, with an additional 270 5G base stations planned to be built this year.

The Action Plan of Accelerating Development of 5G Industry in Zhanjiang (2019-2022) was officially released at the conference. The plan clarifies the development program for Zhanjiang's 5G development process, including work objectives, construction tasks, and safeguard measures. It is expected to achieve coverage of 5G networks in urban areas and industrial parks in Zhanjiang, building 7,460 5G base stations by the end of 2022.

The three major operators, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, signed agreements at the conference to conduct in-depth cooperation with government agencies, enterprises, and institutions, as well as to share high-quality resources to achieve deep integration of technology with the economy, society, and people's livelihoods, such as 5G smart cities, 5G smart medical care, and 5G smart industries.

In the future, Zhanjiang will provide financing support for 5G enterprises and major projects that meet the investment scope. It will introduce policies to attract high-end talents of 5G industries, as well as establish and improve the coordination mechanism for 5G industry development work to accelerate the development of the 5G industry.

A 5G AI bomb disposal robot is displayed at the Zhanjiang 5G Conference. [Photo/ Nanfang Plus]