It is hoped that China and Sweden will focus on development and cooperation, reduce technological differentiation, jointly deepen the cooperation on 5G and 6G, and strive to establish a global unified 5G and 6G standards, Chinese Ambassador to Sweden Cui Aimin said on Tuesday.

Cui made the remarks while he was invited to visit Ericsson's headquarters in Stockholm, and met Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of the Ericsson Group, during which the two sides exchanged views on deepening practical cooperation in the field of information and communication.

Ekholm said Ericsson attaches great importance to the Chinese market and will continue to deepen engagement in the country.

Ericsson will share the huge opportunities of China's development, and work with Chinese companies such as Huawei to promote the unification of global information and communication standards, Ekholm said.

Ekholm noted that over the past two decades, China has made great achievements in the fields of communication infrastructure, technological innovation and artificial intelligence and led the development of the global information and communication industry, which has further strengthened the company's confidence in cooperation with China.

Ericsson is one of the largest mobile communication equipment suppliers in the world and accounts for 58 percent of global 5G market. 

It currently has about 13,000 employees in China, where it also has its largest R&D center outside of Sweden, with an annual investment of more than 3 billion yuan ($449 million).

Cui pointed out that China and Sweden have great potential for economic and trade development and share highly complementary economies.

China's huge market size, advantages in information and communication, logistics and infrastructure can provide a solid foundation for Swedish companies including Ericsson to develop in China while Sweden's advanced communication technology and management experience can also help upgrade the efficiency of China’s information and communication technology, Cui said.

China is one of the leading markets for 5G and has been playing an important role in accelerating the digital transformation of industries with a strong 5G demand.

As of early March, China had around 1.43 million 5G base stations and over 500 million 5G users. The country will work to ensure the number of 5G base stations tops 2 million this year, official data showed.