China had 2.22 million 5G base stations by the end of September, accounting for 20.7 percent of its mobile base stations, up 6.4 percentage points from the end of 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Photo taken on Sept. 5, 2020 shows a view of the 5G communication services exhibition area of the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo: Xinhua)

Meanwhile, China's three major telecom operators — China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom — recorded 1 billion 5G users, with 510 million being mobile phone subscribers, a net increase of 155 million over the end of last year, said MIIT.

The country greenlighted the commercial use of 5G three years ago. It has built the world's largest 5G network, with the number of its 5G base stations accounting for over 60 percent of the world's total.

(Compiled by Yang Yang)