China steps up 5G in factories, mining, electronics production

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the first batch of key industries and application scenarios of 5G + industrial internet in Taiyuan, China’s Shanxi Province on Thursday.

5G + industrial internet will be first applied in the five key industries of electronic equipment production, equipment manufacturing, steel, mining and power sector, covering ten application scenarios including collaborative R&D and design, remote equipment control, collaborative equipment operation, flexible production and manufacturing, on-site auxiliary assembly, machine vision quality inspection, equipment fault diagnosis, intelligent logistics in factories, unmanned intelligent inspection and intelligent production monitoring, according to the MIIT.

China aims to craft the ten application scenarios in the five key industries into examples of 5G + industrial internet application, said Zhao Zhiguo, director of information and communications administration bureau of the MIIT.

According to Zhao, China now has more than 1,500 5G + industrial internet projects undertaken by industrial enterprises, covering 22 important sectors in the national economy.

5G’s capabilities in speed, bandwidth, latency, reliability, massive connectivity, coverage, and security can meet the strict requirements of industrial services and promote the rapid rollout of the Industrial Internet. Forecasts show that the 5G smart manufacturing market will be worth $232 billion by 2025 and that China will spend more than RMB 520 billion ($74.3 billion) on 5G equipment for industry application by 2030.

The smart factory is an important test site for the real-world application of 5G.  Fixed-line still dominates the Industrial Internet, because manufacturers previously relied on wired technology to connect production facilities. However, with 5G, wireless technology is not only more suitable for complex manufacturing environments, it’s also far less expensive than line upgrades.

5G is the cornerstone for the networkisation, digitalisation, and smartification of manufacturing and connected factories, as well as their diverse requirements.