Year-ender: Major achievements in internet and technology

5G mobile phone

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued commercial licenses for 5G on June 6. The next-generation tech is expected to be at least 10 times faster than 4G, and its huge capacity to connect things will enable smart factories, self-driving vehicles and other applications, according to a previous China Daily report.

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp on Aug 5 began the selling of 5G smartphones, the first 5G phone model to hit the market in China, it said.

China has shipped 8.36 million 5G smartphones in the first 11 months this year, according to data from China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.