A 5G technology exhibition is held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

The Chinese government is expected to launch new policies to provide greater support for 5G construction during the upcoming two sessions as part of the country's new infrastructure strategy, an industry representative said on Wednesday.

"During this year's two sessions, we expect the overall guideline toward the information and telecommunications industry, which becomes a pillar of China's economy," Zhao Juntao, president of Ericsson China, told the Global Times.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government has issued a series of measures to support the economy and help companies cope with difficulties. China has included the construction of 5G networks as a key in the country's new infrastructure, thus providing clear guidance for manufacturers and participants in the telecommunications industry, Zhao said.

The mobile communication technology has played an important role in fighting the epidemic. "We can see the transformative changes that have been going on in the networks over the past two months. That shift has seen traffic move rapidly from commercial areas to residential areas over just a few days," he said, noting that in many networks, traffic has increased by 20 percent.

Ericsson recently won central procurement bids from China's three major carriers. "We are honored to deeply participate in China's 5G construction and serve more and more Chinese customers," Zhao said, noting that during the epidemic period, Ericsson will continue to support China's 5G construction and invest in the Chinese market.

"China is one of our largest markets in the world, and the Chinese industrial chain is an important part of our related business. Ericsson will fully support China's 5G construction by applying the world's leading 5G technology," he said.

During this year's two sessions, "we are looking forward to relevant policies that can continue to support the ICT industry…we will continue to maintain great confidence in the Chinese market after the pandemic," Zhao noted.

China has made continuous progress in 5G network implementation despite the epidemic. The country's 5G sector has been developing fast since it greenlighted 5G commercial use in June 2019, with over 198,000 5G base stations built by the end of March, official data showed. 

Incomes from China's telecom industry rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to 456.2 billion yuan ($65.2 billion) from January to April, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Wednesday.

China will further advance IT sector through efforts like building high-quality websites and accelerating infrastructure construction for 5G and data centers, Wen Ku, an official with the MIIT, said on a meeting on Wednesday.