(Yicai) April 18 -- China will continue to open up its telecommunications sector by advancing pilot programs for value-added services and exploring ways to further expand foreign access, with the aim of attracting more qualified overseas firms to invest and operate in the country’s telecom sector, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said today.

China’s telecom sector is opening up more and more, said Xie Cun, director general of the MIIT's Information and Communications Development Department. In the first quarter, China gave the greenlight to 13 foreign-invested companies to run pilot programs for value-added telecom services, and the government is actively encouraging overseas firms to invest more in China. By the end of March, over 2,400 foreign-backed telecom companies were operating in China, a jump of 26.5 percent from the year before.

The MIIT will strengthen its international collaborations with the EU, South Korea, India and other regions on the development of 6G, he added.

The IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group has been set up to coordinate 6G innovation efforts, under the guidance of the ministry. The group has released over 50 research reports. The group is also running tests on major technologies such as integrated sensing and communication as well as wireless AI to fast-track their development.

Moving forward, China will focus on better integrating technological and industrial innovations and accelerating the research and development, standardization, testing and roll out of 6G, Xie added. The country also plans to make big strides in integrated technologies such as communications, sensing, intelligence and computing. It will cultivate a 6G-oriented application ecosystem to foster future industrial growth, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor