China took the lead in terms of the 5G market in 2020, with 200 million new 5G connections, accounting for 87 percent of the global total, and the number is expected to hit 822 million by 2025, according to a report released by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association on Feb 22.

Rapid growth of 5G application in China is backed by the country's continuous network construction and expanding end device ecosystem.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese operators have deployed about 600,000 5G base stations in 2020, and the cumulative total has reached 718,000, ranking first in the world, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The report estimated telecom operators' capital expenditures will reach $210 billion between 2020 and 2025, with 90 percent to be injected into 5G development.

"China set to dominate the global 5G landscape," the report read.

Although 4G is currently the leading mobile technology in China, it has reached its peak while 5G take-up continues apace. By 2025, 4G is expected to account for 53 percent of total connections in China, compared to 47 percent for 5G.

Chinese consumers are more eager to upgrade to 5G than those in any other countries in the world, according to the GSMA Intelligence Consumers in Focus Survey 2020.

About 62 percent of Chinese expressed enthusiasm for 5G last year, and over 85 percent of 5G users in China believe their telecom service has met or exceeded expectations.

In 2020, 163 million 5G smartphones were sold across the Chinese mainland, accounting for nearly 53 percent of total smartphone shipments.

GMSA also analyzed positive developments in China's massive mobile market.

By the end of 2020, 1.22 billion people subscribed to mobile services in China, equivalent to 83 percent of the country's population.

"This places China among the world's most developed mobile markets, given global average penetration is 66 percent," the report read.

More than 990 million people in China now use mobile internet services, and this figure is expected to increase by a further 200 million by 2025.