China calls for faster push into 5G, IoT and supercomputing engines of growth in new grand digitalisation plan

China has issued a plan calling for accelerated development of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), data centres and supercomputing technologies, with these new engines expected to lead future digital growth.

An acceleration of digitalisation is crucial to fully promoting China’s “great rejuvenation”, according to a road map released by the ruling Communist Party and State Council on Monday, which calls for the construction of a “digital China”.

The country aims to make significant progress in digitalisation by 2025, and reach “world-leading levels” by 2035, according to the plan.

Digital infrastructure and data resources will be the main foundations of China’s grand plan, according to the State Council. The country also aims to promote the digital transition of its economy, governance, culture, society and business sectors, while strengthening digital innovation and security.

The country will speed up the buildout of 5G networks and gigabit optical networks to support development of IoT and large-scale application of the Beidou satellite navigation system, China’s version of GPS.

It will also optimise the deployment of data centres, supercomputing centres, and edge data centres to improve the country’s digital infrastructure.