China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) laid out plans to more than triple the number of 5G base stations over the next four years, targeting a total of 3.64 million by end-2025, China Daily reported.

The MIIT’s plan aims to increase the number of sites supporting 10,000 people from five in 2020 to 26 by end-2025, the newspaper stated.

China reportedly had nearly 634 million 5G package subscribers at end-September. Currently the nation has 1.2 million 5G sites nationwide, which make up about 70 per cent of the global total, with the number of customers on compatible plans accounting for 38.7 per cent of the nation’s tally.

Xie Cun, director of the MIIT’s information and communication development department, told China Daily all prefecture-level cities have full 5G coverage, with rural towns at 40 per cent.

The plans also forecast the cumulative investment in telecoms infrastructure to grow from CNY2.5 trillion ($391.7 billion) in 2020 to CNY3.7 trillion in 2025.