China releases 5-year development plan for information, communications

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday issued a development plan for the information and communications industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) to promote high-quality development of the sector.

By 2030, a new-generation communications network with comprehensive coverage and leading performance is expected to be fully established, according to the plan, while efforts will be made to accelerate the development of a technologically advanced, secure and controllable information and communications industrial system.

Meanwhile, an agile and efficient governance system integrating technology and management is expected to be effectively established, and network and data security capabilities featuring all-domain coordination and practical application will be significantly enhanced, the plan indicates.

The industry's empowerment level and degree of globalization will be further improved, laying a solid foundation for basically achieving modernization of the information and communications sector by 2035, according to the plan.

The plan also outlines 13 key indicators, including achieving information and communications industry revenue of 4.1 trillion yuan (about 604.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030, cumulative investment of 3.8 trillion yuan in information infrastructure, and an average annual growth rate of 7 percent in total telecommunications business volume.

By 2030, there will be 50 5G (including 5G-A) base stations per 10,000 people, intelligent computing power will reach 9,800 EFLOPS, and the 5G user penetration rate will reach 95 percent, the ministry said.

EFLOPS, or ExaFLOPS, is a unit of computing performance, with each unit representing 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second.

The plan also proposes promoting the deep integration of satellite and terrestrial networks, calls for developing 6G base stations and 6G smartphones, and strengthening standards systems in key information and communication areas such as optical communications, computing networks and quantum communication.

China releases 5-year development plan for information, communications

Medical treatment and support work are going smoothly at the Sog County People's Hospital in the vicinity of Baqen County in the city of Nagqu in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region that was hit by a powerful earthquake on Thursday.

Some of the injured people in Maru Township and Gangqie Township of Baqen County were transferred to the hospital, which is about 57 kilometers away from the epicenter.

The hospital has sufficient medical supplies and living necessities.

"All the medical staff in our hospital are working together to provide treatment for the injured. Those who need to be hospitalized are hospitalized, and those who need observation are under observation. We also provide round-the-clock food services for the family members," said nurse Kunsang.

"We have been working around the clock since last night, and more patients have been coming in," said hospital official Rinchen Drolma.

Besides offering effective treatment, medical workers have also been giving psychological support to the injured and their family members.

"The medical workers and police officers helped us reach here. The foods are great, and the hospital is taking good care of the patients. Now my child has received a comprehensive examination and his condition has stabilized," said Pug Rayul, father of an injured kid.

"We are from Maru Township, and the ambulance took us here from the quake-hit area. Medical staff come every half an hour to check if our blood pressures and other data are normal. They also prepared bedding and other daily necessities for us," said Namchoe Gya, family member of an injured resident.

A local of Sog County brought free foods to the patients at the hospital Friday morning.

"I brought more than 100 servings of Tibetan noodle, as well as Tibetan tea and tsampa. I prepared all these myself. I feel very happy to be able to help others," said Norbu Wangchen, the local.

At least 16 people were killed and 76 others were injured after the quake jolted Baqen County at 22:33 Beijing time (1433 GMT) on Thursday.

Post-quake medical treatment goes smoothly at county hospital in Xizang