China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 2025 Statistical Communiqué of the Communications Industry on January 28. The data reveals significant achievements in the nation's communication infrastructure, with the "Dual Gigabit" network coverage continuously deepening and the synergistic development of computing power networks yielding outstanding results, marking a comprehensive upgrade.
According to statistics, in 2025, the total telecom business volume, calculated at previous year's prices, increased by 9.1% year-on-year, surpassing the GDP growth rate by 4.1 percentage points, thereby making a positive contribution to economic growth. Annual telecom business revenue reached 1.75 trillion yuan, up 0.7% from the previous year.
Notably, the proportion of revenue from emerging businesses—primarily cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and data centers—rose to 25.7%, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. This segment drove telecom business revenue growth by 1.2 percentage points, establishing itself as the primary engine for the industry's revenue expansion.
The average mobile internet traffic per user per month (DOU) for the full year 2025 reached 20.74 GB/user/month, while the DOU for December alone hit a record 23.04 GB/user/month. Mobile IoT terminal access traffic maintained rapid growth, surging 42.7% year-on-year.
In 2025, China's information and communication infrastructure underwent a significant upgrade. Regarding the "Dual Gigabit" network construction, targets set in the 14th Five-Year Plan were exceeded, achieving gigabit network access in every county and 5G coverage in all townships and over 95% of administrative villages. By the end of 2025, the number of 5G base stations reached 4.838 million.
The number of 10G PON ports capable of providing gigabit network services reached 31.62 million, which is 2.6 times the target outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan. 5G-Advanced (5G-A), the evolved and upgraded version of 5G networks, achieved coverage in over 330 cities, with pilot projects for 10-gigabit optical networks successfully launched in the first batch of 168 residential communities, factories, and industrial parks.
The statistical communiqué also indicated that in 2025, the proportion of R&D expenditure to telecom business revenue in China's communications industry increased to 4.6%, successfully meeting the 14th Five-Year Plan development target of 4.5%. China's share of declared 5G standard-essential patents reached 42% globally, phased achievements were made in the verification of 6G system architecture and key technologies, the integration and innovation of artificial intelligence with communication technologies accelerated, and quantum communication technology progressed from frontier research towards practical application.
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