A vehicle with 5G equipment collects signal during a live broadcast of cherry blossoms at Wuhan University in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, March 16, 2020. The campus of Wuhan University is not open to the public due to epidemic prevention and control works. The university on Monday organized a ten-day live broadcast to show cherry blossoms in spring in the campus. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

China will continue to support the research and development (R&D) of 5G-related technologies and standards, including 5G core chips, according to the latest notice released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Tuesday.

"In the coming months, 5G will be a key sector of China's new infrastructure construction to drive economic recovery and development," Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In addition to policy support in building 5G base stations and cellular networks, China will support the R&D of 5G core chips, key components, basic software, instrumentation and 5G-related application technologies, under efforts to strengthen the R&D of 5G technologies and standards, according to MIIT.

China will also encourage construction of 5G open source development communities, in a bid to promote 5G-related application innovations, and making use of 5G to deepen technological research into big data, AI and cloud technologies.

"It is necessary to speed up the construction of new infrastructure projects. But I think what is more important at the moment is to solve the problem of the idle economy lasting for almost two months," Tian noted, clarifying that in the early stages, the idling was mainly caused by supply shortages. 

China's cumulative investment in 5G network construction is expected to hit 1.2 trillion yuan ($1695.9 billion) by 2025, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. In the next five years, 5G network construction will drive investment both upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and in various industries to more than 3.5 trillion yuan.