A poster unveiled by China Mobile on Friday to promote its first 5G smartphone Pioneer X1. (Photo : chinadaily.com.cn)

China Mobile, the world's largest telecom carrier by mobile subscribers, officially launched its first self-branded 5G smartphone on Friday, signaling that State-owned telecom operators are ready to popularize the use of 5G handsets in the country.

Pioneer X1, priced at 4,988 yuan ($698.3), is the first self-branded 5G model unveiled by China's telecom operators. China Mobile said the model is available for pre-orders in both online and offline retail stores.

China Mobile Pioneer X1 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which means it packs the Snapdragon X50 modem. The phone boasts a 6.47-inch display with a waterdrop notch. The display houses an on-screen fingerprint scanner. Housed inside the waterdrop notch is a powerful 20-megapixel camera.

China Mobile said in a statement that it will continue working with industrial partners to make more than 100 5G terminal devices for consumer and enterprise-oriented markets.