There are already over 100,000 5G base stations deployed in China. By the end of 2020, there are likely to be over a million 5G base stations in the country – more than the rest of the world combined. The relatively young Chinese tower industry had been remarkable for the pace and volume of new site build: over 570,000 sites were built in China Tower’s first five years to July 2019. But since the issuance of 5G licenses, new build volumes have reduced by two thirds. The focus has shifted to enabling the industrial applications of 5G.
I have seen the 5G future in China… and most towercos are not ready
![china-5g-feature.jpg](https://assets.euromoneydigital.com/dims4/default/45fae2f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/655x355+0+0/resize/840x455!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feuromoney-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F31%2Ffe%2F1f22143a8bdb1d208a8d08f1ffe9%2Fchina-5g-feature.jpg)