Leading companies at the forefront of cutting-edge 5G research

In the global race to develop 5G, or fifth-generation mobile communication technology, China's leading tech companies and telecom carriers are working hard at gaining an edge over international competitors.

According to a timetable mapped out by the International Telecommunication Union, 5G is expected to be first put into commercial use by 2020.

This new generation of networks is expected to have peak data transfer speed of 20 gigabits per second, almost 100 times faster than current 4G networks.