Telecoms giant's involvement in 5G innovation project a true sign of China-UK collaboration

After years of phenomenal growth, China has arrived at a point where the next challenge is to reform the driving forces of the economy so as to continue the upward journey.

One key to success is developing innovative products and solutions, and building global brand recognition and independent marketing solutions. Japan and South Korea have succeeded in doing this, and Chinese company Huawei is proving to be a great exponent of this philosophy.

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology provider, and right now, worldwide, mobile access to the Internet is becoming wholly fundamental to doing business in all industries. Flexible working practices facilitated by mobile networks and devices are already essential and are allowing enterprises to conduct operations across boundaries that previously inhibited growth.

Growing mobile access to the Internet, cloud-based services and big data analytics is allowing anyone, anywhere to leverage "big wisdom" - a new kind of globally connected and shared knowledge base.

Through strong partnerships, Huawei has established its products and solutions in more than 170 countries, serving more than one-third of the world's population. To continue to foster the spirit of innovation and global engagement, which is central to Huawei's approach, three years ago Ren Zhengfei, the founder and CEO, met British Prime Minister David Cameron to make a five-year commitment to cooperate with British companies and universities.

"The UK is rightly known as a country that has an outstanding record in fostering business growth and pioneering technological innovations," Ken Hu, Huawei Group's rotating CEO and an executive director on its UK board, said at the time. "These attributes make it one of our most important markets internationally. We're proud to make a contribution to the UK economy through our products and services, and the groundbreaking innovation and research and development that we carry out in Britain."

Three years after that meeting with Cameron, the company has 15 locations across the United Kingdom; has acquired the highly innovative, Cambridge-based Internet of Things company Neul; has opened an R&D center in Bristol; and has helped roll out 4G and broadband networks around the nation. It has also begun pioneering the development of 5G mobile communications and Internet technologies, and most recently become a major partner in the University of Surrey's 5G Innovation Centre.

With strong support from the UK government and the involvement of 14 leading multinational telecoms partners, the innovation center provides a high-profile, international platform for Huawei's technology and ingenuity. The Chinese company's engineers are deeply engaged with Surrey's leading research academics in working to produce the world's first "open" 5G test bed. Stretching across 4 square kilometers of the university campus and into the surrounding town of Guildford, the 5G test bed will provide a unique facility for the live testing of new-generation mobile technologies.

In a clear demonstration of the culture of energy and innovation at Huawei, even before the center is officially opened Huawei engineers have been working around the clock to replace key equipment with telecoms equipment only just developed in the company's R&D laboratories.

One of the key uses of new-generation mobile technology will be in the global rise of machine-to-machine applications, where remote sensors and devices connect directly to the Internet of Things network. The devices may be as a simple as temperature sensors or as complex as robots or driverless cars, but they will all use the same 5G communications network.

The M2M market has seen rapid growth globally in recent years as operators and governments have recognized the potential. The Internet of Things will play a significant role in realizing the potential of the digital future, with positive effects on both the economy and the broader society.

By the end of last year, China was the largest cellular M2M market, with 73 million cellular connections, 30 percent of the global total. The Untied States is the second largest, with 42 million connections, followed by Japan, with 11 million. By 2020, China will have increased its share to 36 percent, with 355 million cellular M2M connections.

The formal opening of the 5G Innovation Centre on Sept 15 will be a true celebration of China-UK collaboration, pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation to their limits to address global needs.

The author is chief operating officer of the 5G Innovation Centre at the UK's University of Surrey. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.