(Yicai Global) Aug. 20 -- Shanghai has over 56,000 base stations for the fifth-generation wireless communications network, ranking it top among Chinese cities, an official from the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission announced yesterday.

The eastern financial center had built more than 25,000 outdoor 5G base stations and over 31,000 indoor ones as of the end of last month, the commission said.

Shanghai counts outdoor and indoor base stations separately because they differ in capacity and radius of coverage, Qian Xiao, director of the commission’s Information Infrastructure Management Service, told Yicai Global.

One of the pioneers of China’s 5G commercialization, Shanghai is advancing its application in all sectors and has implemented 301 application projects in smart manufacturing, healthcare and education, Qian added.

The country’s other major cities are also ahead in building 5G communication infrastructure. Shenzhen had put up 46,500 5G base stations as of Aug. 14 and is the nation’s first city with a full-coverage standalone network, Jia Xingdong, head of the southern tech hub’s Industrial and Information Technology Bureau, stated this week.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Ben Armour