BEIJING — The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) began to research and test 5G technology on Jan 7 with the aim of commercializing it by 2020.

“The purpose of the research and test is to support the formulation of global 5G standards and boost the development of the telecom industry,” said Cao Shumin, head of a 5G R&D team under the MIIT.

Research and test work will be completed by 2018 and domestic telecom service providers will try to commercialize the 5G technology in the following two years.

“China has made progress in the research of some key areas regarding 5G technology,” said MIIT chief engineer Zhang Feng.

China has more than 905 million mobile Internet users and about 380 million are 4G users.