Kids view a model of 5G base station at the Huawei 5G Experience Booth during the preview of the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in east China's Shanghai, Aug. 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Shanghai will build 20,000 5G base stations to realize citywide 5G coverage by the end of this year.

SHANGHAI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai will build 20,000 5G base stations to realize citywide 5G coverage by the end of this year, said Ying Yong, mayor of Shanghai, in a government work report at the opening of the local annual legislative session on Wednesday.

He said at the Third Session of the 15th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress that the telecom infrastructure construction would assist Shanghai's smart city building and increase the application level of the new generation information technology.

Ma Chi, a researcher with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said Shanghai has put itself among the world's leading cities for 5G development.

The city completed the construction of 10,000 5G base stations in 2019. Communications equipment supplier Huawei has launched its first 5G innovation center in Shanghai.

People visit the Huawei 5G Experience Booth during the preview of the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in east China's Shanghai, Aug. 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The municipal government issued a 5G industry plan in 2019 setting the target of realizing a 5G industrial scale worth 100 billion yuan (14.5 billion U.S. dollars) by 2021.

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology forecast that the total economic output directly driven by China's 5G business is expected to reach 10.6 trillion yuan from 2020 to 2025. ■