A visitor takes photos of ZTE's new cellphones during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

China is currently the world leader in the 5G rollout with "1.425 million 5G base stations" and "518 million" people having a 5G phone thanks to a very high 5G coverage allowing for "more than 10,000 5G industry applications."

BARCELONA, Spain, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Xie Junshi, executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) of Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corporation, discussed a wide range of issues related to 5G and suggested that it could be a "social vaccine" during the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022 in Barcelona.

After two years of cancellations and changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the MWC is back in full swing this year.

"This is the biggest, most impactful event for the world ICT (information and communications technology) industry and as we see the world is gradually recovering from the pandemic," Xie said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

The pandemic coincided with the 5G rollout and this new technology has helped many people remain in touch with family and friends, and enabled them to work from home during periods of lockdown experienced in many countries.

"I think 5G will bring very big changes to the whole industry. First of all -- and I think this is felt more deeply after the events of the past years -- digitalization may become a kind of social vaccine in the post-pandemic era."

"The digitalization of communication, whether it is telecommuting, online collaboration, online shopping, and the digitalization of manufacturing, should play an irreplaceable role in the healthy development of the whole world economy, and also gradually enhance the immunity of the whole society, which I think is very important," he explained.

A visitor is seen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

The return of MWC allows companies to once again hold formal presentations of their new products, and ZTE is no different.

"We have launched our simplest, easy-to-use 5G network solution, and solutions for efficient, intelligent operation and network maintenance. This is also very much in line with our future dual carbon strategy, as we work towards a green, low-carbon and sustainable future," Xie said.

He said that ZTE would also "focus on launching new 5G customer premises equipment (CPE) products this year, as well as our global Blade series of smartphones."

China is currently the world leader in the 5G rollout with "1.425 million 5G base stations" and "518 million" people having a 5G phone thanks to a very high 5G coverage allowing for "more than 10,000 5G industry applications."

"A major benefit of 5G in typical application scenarios currently is that it reduces costs, improves quality and increases efficiency," Xie said, highlighting ZTE's "5G cloud-based AGV (automated guided vehicle)" as well as "domestic" and "global 5G industry applications," such as "smart ports in Belgium, smart medical care in Colombia, smart ecological agriculture in Austria, and smart manufacturing in Thailand."

"Through such 5G industry applications, we can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency," he said.

Xie said he was excited to see the new applications that could emerge in the 5G era: "For example, WeChat exploded in the 3G era and Douyin (TikTok) emerged in the 4G era, so what will the killer app be in the 5G era?" He said this is of interest to most everyone," predicting further advances in "ultra-high definition video, as well as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications."

Visitors watch an immersive 360 holographic show at Barcelona Looks Up stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

"We can already see this trend in China, South Korea and some other countries with high 5G penetration," he explained, adding that "5G technology has brought us improved audio-visual experience, with 360-degree views and far-and-close telescopic free views," which allow "viewers to sit at home and have the feeling of being there."?