ZTE 2020 GLOBAL 5G SUMMIT AND USER CONGRESS: ZTE CEO Xu Ziyang (pictured) estimated China’s 5G infrastructure will cost $165 billion over the full construction cycle, which would be 50 per cent more than invested in 4G.

He stated the country’s mobile operators had deployed 690,000 5G sites in 350 cities by end-September. During a keynote, Xu also said the company had secured 55 commercial 5G contracts and is working with 90 operators worldwide.

ZTE accounted for 30 per cent of global RAN shipments in Q2, Xu claimed. He said the RAN market grew 20 per cent year-on-year to $9.4 billion, noting the growth was driven in large part by an aggressive standalone 5G drive by Chinese operators.

The company is pushing cloud network integration for industrial applications. Xu said it lined up more than 500 partners across 15 verticals spanning manufacturing; education; healthcare; tourism; transportation; environmental protection; and energy.