BEIJING: Chinese technology companies are in the limelight at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2024, a major telecommunications industry event in Barcelona, Spain, as they showcase their latest innovations to explore new business opportunities and gain a wider presence in Europe and beyond.
The event, which runs from Monday to Thursday, has attracted more than 300 Chinese companies, almost twice as many as last year. The enterprises are displaying their latest products, from upgraded 5G portfolios and artificial intelligence-powered smartphones to smart cars and augmented-reality devices.
The robust participation underscores Chinese companies’ willingness for global collaboration and their technological prowess in strategic industries, despite the increase in the United States’ arbitrary tech sanctions on them, experts said.
According to the GSMA, an industry group representing the world’s biggest mobile phone operators and the organizer of MWC 2024, Huawei is the largest exhibitor this year, and China Telecom and Alipay have made their debuts at the show. Other leading Chinese tech companies that are participating include Xiaomi, Lenovo, Honor and ZTE.
Mats Granryd, director-general of the GSMA, said there is a need for companies to align with the challenges and opportunities. “As connectivity brings us together, technology opens possibilities. … Together we are strong, and alone we are nobody,” he said.
As 2024 marks the commercial launch of 5G-advanced, or 5G-A, technology, which is a crucial upgrade of the 5G network in functionality and coverage, Chinese telecom companies are moving to center stage.During this year’s MWC, Huawei launched the world’s first 5G-A intelligent core network to support more cutting-edge applications. According to Huawei, 5G-A can improve network performance tenfold. For instance, it can support a downlink speed of 10 gigabits per second, compared with the current 5G speed of 1 Gbps.
Li Peng, senior vice-president of Huawei, said, “The combination of 5G-A, artificial intelligence and cloud computing will help nurture new growth drivers.” Li added that the technology can help address challenges that 5G cannot solve in certain application scenarios before the commercialization of 6G.
Eager to tap into the huge potential, China Mobile, the world’s largest telecom carrier in terms of mobile subscribers, announced at the tech show that it will start deploying 5G-A commercial networks in more than 300 Chinese cities this year, which would make its scale the largest in the world.
Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, said the company has made progress in experimenting with new 5G-A applications. For instance, more than 4 million users in China are now using a new calling service that can support automatic translation and other AI functions during ultra-high-definition video calls. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
