Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), the only mobile phone in the world that supports both SA and NSA (two different 5G networks), displayed at a store in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Shen Weiduo/GT

The Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), developed by Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and the only mobile phone in the world that supports both SA and NSA (two different 5G networks), officially hit stores on Friday, marking one step closer to the nationwide commercialization of the 5G network.

When the Global Times reporter visited two stores in downtown Beijing on Friday, staff said the phone, priced at 6,199 yuan ($880.44), had already sold out and that newcomers would have to preorder it and wait for supplies to be restocked.

"Customers poured in to take a look at the phone once we began sales at 10:00 in the morning," a staff member at the Huawei flagship store in Beijing's Chaoyang district told the Global Times on Friday.

Online platforms such as Tmall.com also showed Huawei's 5G phone was out of stock, the Global Times found on Friday.

The Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), equipped with Huawei's self-developed Balong 5000 chipset, had received more than 1 million preorders as of Thursday. 

The mounting orders from Chinese customers show that domestic interest in the new phone and new technology is high, Xiang Ligang, a veteran industry analyst and one of the first users of the Huawei Mate 20 X, told the Global Times on Friday. He also said that the company is not releasing many products at the moment as the 5G network does not yet offer large-scale coverage across the country. 

Huawei told the Global Times on Friday that delivery volume figures were not available at the moment.

Industry analysts forecast that in the next half, 5G phones will be produced on a mass scale and their price will decline.

Apart from Huawei's Mate 20 X, two other 5G phones, including ZTE's AXON Pro 10 and the vivo IQOO 5G, will hit the market soon, China Telecom said on Friday. 

The heated sales come amid intensified trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, which are driving China to speed up the full layout of 5G commercialization and take a global lead in the 5G era.

It is estimated that the number of 5G stations in China will reach 150,000 by the end of 2019, and three major carriers, including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, will invest a total of 34 billion yuan into their construction, according to media reports.

The three carriers are also planning to cooperate in network-building and in the operation of 5G services, domestic news site caixin.com reported on Wednesday, in a bid to reduce the cost of 5G constructions and to increase efficiency.