“6G has already become a high ground for national strategic competition and it is only natural that [China] should attach importance to 6G research.

Wu Hequan, Chinese Academy of Engineering Academician, April 2022

6G is being treated as the next layer in China’s long-term digital infrastructure buildout, not a replacement for 5G.

A media outlet supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Communications World, published an article on April 6, 2022 addressing ongoing disagreements among Chinese experts over the relative pace of the country’s 5G and 6G programs.

The critique is familiar: China, some argue, has overinvested in physical 5G infrastructure while underinvesting in applications, and should avoid accelerating 6G development before 5G deployment and use cases have fully matured. This line of argument amounts to a public challenge to the central government’s “in-advance” infrastructure policy.

The MIIT-supervised article rejects that critique outright. It instead affirms the official position that “the next three to five years constitute a strategic window for breakthroughs in key 6G technologies,” and argues that China must sustain momentum in 5G deployment while simultaneously laying the groundwork for 6G, lest it fall behind in the global evolution of mobile communications. The message is clear: debates over sequencing are no longer open-ended.

The article notes that China began systematic research on 6G as early as 2018, when it established the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group, with the expectation that 6G would reach commercial viability around 2030. This framework underpins a two-stage national plan.

  • Phase One (2018–2025) focuses on articulating a 6G vision, researching and validating potential key technologies, and designing and verifying a conceptual 6G system architecture.
  • Phase Two (2026–2030) will shift toward formal standards-setting, product development, industry promotion, and the cultivation of commercial applications.

This phased approach reflects continuity rather than disruption: 6G is being treated as the next layer in China’s long-term digital infrastructure buildout, not a replacement for 5G.

Note: Both 5G and 6G are designated subcategories of New Type Infrastructure by the National Development and Reform Commission, reinforcing their role as system-level national development priorities rather than standalone telecommunications upgrades.