In the run-up to the 19th CPC National Congress, China Daily is reporting on a number of key projects of national importance that will showcase the country's improvements in crucial fields. These include recent reforms aimed at improving living standards and creating a prosperous society by 2020. Today's report focuses on China's booming telecom sector.

Telecom companies are ratcheting up their 5G research and development spending as China scrambles to commercialize high-speed services.

China's mobile carriers are likely to invest at least $173 billion into 5G construction from 2019 to 2025 in a move to deliver super-fast services, investment bank Jefferies has predicted.

"Compared to the amount being spent on 4G between 2013 to 2020, that will be an increase of 48 percent," the New York-based commercial lender stated.

ZTE Corp, the country's second largest telecom equipment maker, will invest 2 billion yuan ($294.8 million) in 5G R D this year, up from 1 billion yuan in 2016.

A large chunk will go into infrastructure construction.

"The cash will be spent on a wide range of fields such as devices, chips and, of course, infrastructure construction," said Cui Li, vice-president of ZTE's wireless product operations division.

Already 5G technology is eagerly awaited. It will offer super fast internet speed such as downloading an 8-gigabit movie in seconds.

It will also help make autonomous driving a reality as it ripples across most industries and sectors in a new internet revolution.

Even though international 5G standards have yet to be rolled out, Chinese companies are boosting R D investment to establish a beachhead for this new era.

To illustrate how important it is, 5G was part of China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

A report by Beijing's China Academy of Information and Communication Technology predicted that next-generation super fast internet will drive 6.3 trillion yuan of economic output in the country by 2030.

The stakes and rewards are so high that China Mobile Communications Corp aims to deploy more than 10,000 5G "base stations" by 2020.

Last month, it established the country's first 5G "base station" in Guangzhou, Guangdong province before carrying out high-speed outfield tests.