BEIJING, June 4 -- China will speed up the construction of virtual private networks in the 5G industry and enrich the country's 5G application scenarios, industry and information technology minister Jin Zhuanglong said on Sunday.

China will improve the coverage of high-quality networks such as 5G and gigabit optical networks by continuously optimizing the infrastructure layout, and build a batch of 5G factories, Jin said at the opening forum of the 31st PT Expo China in Beijing.

Ke Ruiwen, chairman of China Telecom, said the company has been building an all-optical network, with gigabit optical networks now covering more than 300 cities.

China Mobile, another telecom giant in China, said it has led nearly 200 international standards for 5G and applied for more than 4,100 patents.

According to China Tower, the company has made more than 200,000 communication towers smarter by equipping them with 5G and artificial intelligence.

Jin also said that China is eyeing the next-generation internet, as well as other frontier fields, and comprehensively advancing the research and development of sixth-generation (6G) communications technology.

The country will facilitate the development of new types of information infrastructure facilities, speed up the use of information technology and deepen the integrated applications of the industrial internet, he said.

The incubation of emerging sectors will be quickened, while efforts will continuously be made to enhance the country's full-industrial-chain advantages in the sectors of mobile and optical communication, according to Jin.