The mobile ecosystem added CNY5.2 trillion ($750 billion) in value to China’s economy last year, which is equivalent to 5.5 per cent of the country’s GDP, a new GSMA report revealed.
The country’s mobile ecosystem directly and indirectly supported 8.5 million jobs in 2018 and made a tax contribution to public finances of CNY583 billion. The economic contribution of the sector is forecast to reach CNY6 trillion by 2023.
The report, released in the first China edition of GSMA’s Mobile Economy report series, outlines how China’s mobile industry has been a key driver of economic growth, inclusion and modernisation – creating a new generation of digital consumers and transforming industry and society.
Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA, said after spending billions over the last decade deploying 4G networks to all corners of China, the country’s mobile operators are set to invest a further CNY401 billion over the next two years to prepare for and begin 5G rollouts, laying the groundwork for China to become one of the world’s leading 5G markets.
4G leader
China, home to almost 1.2 billion unique mobile subscribers at the end of 2018, is the largest mobile market in the world by a big margin. More than two-thirds of mobile connections in China are smartphones, with smartphone adoption expected to reach 88 per cent of connections by 2025.
4G connections accounted for 77 per cent of the country’s total at end-December. The country is forecast to become one of the world’s leading 5G markets, with 460 million 5G connections by 2025, which would represent 28 per cent of the country’s total.
The number of licensed cellular IoT connections stood at 672 million at the end of 2018.
The Mobile Economy China 2019 report was produced by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA.
