Beyond 5G, China eyes dominance in 6G networks by 2030
As countries vie for leadership in 5G some countries are already eyeing leadership in 6G.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2019) 'Beyond 5G, China eyes dominance in 6G networks by 2030', 311 Institute, 20 January. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/china-hopes-to-deploy-worlds-first-commercial-6g-network-by-2030/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
The race for leadership in the 5G world might still be in its early stages but China, alongside the UK who started work on a new 6G standard back in 2015, is already making moves to become a pioneer in future 6G networks that will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum mechanics to operate at terabit, not gigabit, speeds. Su Xin, head of a 5G technology working group at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, last week announced that teams in Beijing started working on a new 6G standard late last year, but that he doesn’t expect the first commercial 6G networks to be ready before 2030.
He also told the China Securities Journal that 6G would be the “G to end all G’s” because he expected several different technologies to support wireless communications and therefore future advances “would be iterative rather than generational.” However, it’s also worth noting that similar claims were made about 5G in the early days.
“5G has three main application scenarios - large bandwidth, low latency, and wide connection – I think 6G can achieve better application in all three scenarios,” he said, also suggesting that 6G speeds could reach up to 1Tbps in the real world.
China is expected to be one of the leaders in 5G networks thanks to strong government support, the presence of major vendors like Huawei, and because mobile operators need the additional capacity to cope with explosive demand for mobile data, but what will eventually constitute 6G has still yet to be debated though, never mind realised, and elsewhere in Finland the €251 million 6Genesis Project is also researching the future wireless communications technologies, as you can see in the above video, that will eventually supersede 5G.
Meanwhile back in China the leaders of the project said recently that “6G would fulfil the capacity and latency promise of 5G by delivering the architectural shifts required and through the use of AI.” So, as we see yet again, the march of technological progress seemingly knows no limits and continues faster than ever before.
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Why does this matter?
As countries vie for leadership in 5G some countries are already eyeing leadership in 6G.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- Uk government suddenly moots 6g mobile networks before 5g exists ispreview.co.uk
- in future 6G networks techradar.com
- Ministry of Industry and Information Technology english.gov.cn
- Forget 5g china working 6g techinasia.com
- 6gflagship oulu.fi
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 20 January 2019. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2019). Beyond 5G, China eyes dominance in 6G networks by 2030. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/china-hopes-to-deploy-worlds-first-commercial-6g-network-by-2030/
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