Over the last thirty years, the infrastructure of Internet in China it has continued to expand and has entered the homes of most of the inhabitants of the People’s Republic. According to data made public by the president of the China Internet Association Shang Bing, fixed broadband penetration has reached the share of 110.2%thanks to the presence of multiple subscriptions in some families, and 5G has become available in 90% of the regions of the country.
At the same time, the number of users connected to the network has also increased, reaching almost the figure of 1.1 billionand people’s lifestyle would also be improved thanks to services such as online shopping, ride hailingthe possibility of working remotely and the presence of smart devices in homes. During the closing ceremony of the China Internet Conference 2024, Shang also explained that the enhancement of Internet infrastructure has stimulated development in related fields, such asartificial intelligencethe chips semiconductors advanced and 6G. “The world is witnessing unprecedented technological advances”, he stressed. “Emerging computing technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are reshaping both the digital and physical worlds.”.
Among the various areas in which Beijing has decided to concentrate its efforts, AI is the one that has grown the most in recent times and which represents one of the areas of challenge with the United States. In December 2023, In December 2023, it was detected an increase in its industry value equal to 18%which led it to reach 578.4 billion yuan (79.7 billion US dollars). The number of enterprises in the sector has exceeded 4,500about one seventh of the total global number (29,770), and scientific publications on the topic have also multiplied. According to the report cited by Shang Bing, moreover, from 2013 to today China has presented the 64% of the 1.29 million AI-related patent applications worldwide.
In addition to AI, Beijing has also invested heavily in digitalization of key sectors, in building a comprehensive network governance framework and in developing the cybersecurity.
According to the document presented to the China Internet Conferenceprogress has been made in particular in strengthening satellite Internet and spreading fiber optics and broadband throughout the country of the People’s Republic.