Visitors using China Mobile-enabled phones at a recent exhibition of telecommunication products in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. [Photo by Li Zhihao/for China Daily]

China will apply 5G technology to terminal devices as early as the second half of 2019, leading to the primary commercialization of the technology in the near future, according to an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

"China started 5G research experiments in 2016, and entered the third stage of system verification this year," Wen Ku, head of the MIIT information and communication department, said at the ongoing first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province.

China has launched 5G cooperation mechanisms with Japan, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United States, with international companies joining the research and development, he said.

Wen said device manufacturers such as Huawei and Ericsson had participated in development of 5G products to help create a complete 5G industrial chain.

Given the significantly greater speed -- up to 10 gigabits per second -- that 5G offers, the next-generation ultra-fast networks will see ways of life change more than in the 4G era, in virtually everything from how we "interact" with our cars to how we use the products in our homes.