The Chinese government has actively introduced policies to encourage enterprises to resume work while mobilizing all social forces to effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 epidemic. It regards 5G network construction，5G application scenarios and 5G terminals including mobile phones as some of the major driving forces to bolster consumption growth and economic development. As a general-purpose technology（GPT）making interconnection of all things and disruptive innovations possible，5G has been employed on a large scale during the epidemic prevention and control，thus accumulating precious practical experience and revolutionary impetus for enabling innovative applications，economic transformation，industry upgrading and social governance under the regular epidemic prevention and control measures.

The ultrahigh bandwidth，ultra relable low latency and wide coverage of the 5G network have ensured its remarkable role in epidemic prevention and control and social governance，including remote consultation，remote command，epidemic prevention robots，infrared thermometer and big data management. 5G will further play a vital role in improving the IT maturity of China’s major epidemic prevention and control system，emergency material support system and public health system（especially hospitals）.

Although the COVID-19 epidemic has posed short-term challenges to China’s economic growth，it carries with opportunities-some new economies，business forms and models have been upgraded beyond expectations by mobile communication technologies，especially 5G. These upgradings provide a paradigm for China to shift from an old economic model to a new one. The epidemic prevention and control have hastened new consumption habits，including “otaku economy”，convenient consumption，contactless consumption，“cloud-based” lifestyles and work models，and related supporting applications. All of these elements have not only facilitated the life of people grounded at home，but effectively alleviated the epidemic’s impact on the economy. Meanwhile，they have boosted competitiveness of enterprises’ online business，improved China’s capabilities to perform social governance by using digital tools，and stimulated industries to ponder over and make long-term arrangements in integrating 5G technology with their development.

According to the incomplete statistics released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology（CAICT）as of March 8，2020，since the outbreak of the epidemic，55 companies have developed a total of 225 5G applications，covering smart education and healthcare，smart cities and communities，smart platforms，media and entertainment. The “5G Application Warehouse Platform”，co-launched by CAICT and the 5G Application Industry Alliance（5G AIA），has collected over 300 apps that are dedicated to helping prevent and control COVID-19 and assisting firms to resume work，covering R&D，production and manufacturing，operation and management，operation and maintenance services，as well as epidemic prevention and control.

China’s central leadership has a clear strategic judgment on the role of 5G applications in promoting the country’s economic transformation and industry upgrading. As stressed by General Secretary Xi Jinping at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China（CPC）Central Committee on epidemic prevention and control convened on February 3，2020，increasing consumption is one of the important focuses to offset the epidemic’s impact，and efforts should be made to accelerate the unleashing of emerging consumption potentials，enrich 5G technology application scenarios to drive consumption of 5G terminals such as 5G mobile phones，and boost consumption in e-commerce，e-government，online education and online entertainment. At another meeting of the aforementioned Committee held on March 5，it was proposed to speed up the construction of “New Infrastructure” such as 5G networks and data centers.

At a teleconference on speeding up the development of 5G and resuming production in the information and communication industry held by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology（MIIT）of China on February 22，it was emphasized that the pace of the 5G commercialization should be accelerated，the positive role of 5G construction in “stabilizing investment” and promoting the development of the industry value chain be given full play，and the quality development of the information and telecommunications industry be enhanced. At the same time，it was proposed to foster integrated development，study and promulgate guidelines and integration standards on 5G cross-industry applications，and further strengthen integrated development of 5G with vertical industries，such as industrial manufacturing，healthcare，education，and connected vehicles. Focused efforts are demanded to expedite the integration and application of “5G+Industrial Internet” and boost the digital，networked and intelligent transformation of traditional industries. In addition，it is essential to enrich application scenarios，summarize the role 5G played in epidemic prevention and control，and quicken the promotion of new businesses，models and applications. Enterprises are encouraged to seize 5G development opportunities in distance education，online healthcare and telecommuting，unlock potential of emerging consumption，and stimulate online consumption and information consumption.

As per the China 5G Economy Report 20202633871，5G will bring new types of jobs in information services such as industrial data analytics，intelligence algorithm development and 5G application solutions. It is predicted that information service providers will create about 3.2 million jobs by 2030. According to the estimation of the White Paper on 5G’s Economic and Social Impact prepared by CAICT，in the middle and later stages of 5G commercialization，internet companies’ revenue from 5G-related information services will grow dramatically to be the main source of their direct outputs；it is forecasted that the income from internet information services will reach RMB 2.6 trillion in 2030，accounting for 42% of 5G’s total direct economic outputs.

As 5G is playing a prominent role in China’s epidemic prevention and control，the industry has reached a consensus that the 5G rollout in China will achieve rapid growth in the short term. According to the latest research and forecast data from the Global System for Mobile Communications Association（GSMA），China’s 5G connections will account for 70% of the world’s total in 2020；the penetration rate of 5G in China will rise to nearly 50% by 2025.2633872

Based on the observation on the reciprocal enhancement between epidemic prevention and control and key 5G applications，Qualcomm believes that the epidemic will not affect the process of 5G rollout in China. On the contrary，key 5G applications as well as new economies，business forms and models stimulated by disease prevention and control will empower China’s economic transformation and industry upgrading. We deem that key 5G applications under the regular epidemic prevention and control measures will be primarily driven by five pioneer industries，namely，pan-entertainment（including online entertainment and HD live broadcasting），Industrial Internet（supported by the industry internet，AI and big data），healthcare，new forms of commerce（represented by mobile e-commerce and unmanned retail），and distance education and telecommuting. We suggest that the Chinese government actively foster an innovation ecosystem for the development of key 5G applications，and seize “second reform” opportunities created by the epidemic to carry out economic transformation and industry upgrading. In view of the conviction that 5G and vertical industries must develop as a whole，we have summarized development opportunities brought by key 5G applications propelled by epidemic prevention and control. We have also proposed policy suggestions on nurturing ample 5G application scenarios，building platforms for 5G application eco-system，resolving capital，industry and innovation problems hindering growth of micro，small and medium-sized enterprises（MSMEs）involved in 5G applications，strengthening protection of Intellectual Property Rights（IPR），and pushing forward further opening-up of relevant industries.