BEIJING — Shipments of 5G phones reached 163 million units in China last year, the latest data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) shows.

The figure accounted for 52.9 percent of the country's total mobile phone shipments in 2020. A total of 218 new 5G models were rolled out, according to the CAICT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In December alone, 5G phone shipments reached 18.2 million units, or 68.4 percent of the country's total phone shipments.

China will build more than 600,000 5G base stations in 2021, and the ministry will promote the construction and application of 5G networks in an orderly manner, accelerate the 5G coverage in major cities and advance co-construction and sharing.