The country was the first to begin mass deployment of 5G technology. However, high-speed 5G networks are still a rarity around the world, and 5G-capable smartphones are still a long way off.
According to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), China is leading the global race to develop operational 6G network technology, having licensed 35 percent of the approximately 38,000 patents related to the technology. The closest rival, the United States, is said to have patented about 18% of the necessary technologies.
Artificial intelligence is one of the technologies that China has already managed to patent, but it is unclear how it would be used to allow networks that operate at terahertz frequencies, which are 1,000 times higher than the frequencies currently used in 5G technology gigahertz microwaves.
In 2030, the Asian country hopes to begin rolling out completed 6G technology, with speeds of about 50 gigabits per second (which is 10 times faster data transfer speed than the best M.2 SSD drives can currently handle).
