More than 50,000 5G base stations are expected to be built in Hubei province this year, covering all urban areas of Wuhan, the capital city of the province, Changjiang Times reported.

A 5G base stations project has been unveiled to support the rapid development of the digital economy, with more than 50,000 base stations to be built this year, Lv Xiaohua, deputy director of the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Hubei Province, said at a news conference Monday.

With strong industrial and network advantages, a national-level industrial internet identification system was launched in Hubei province last year, and it was also the only one in the Central China region, Lv said.

Presently, a total of 55 secondary nodes under the system, called the National Top-level Identifier Resolution Node of the Industrial Internet, are operated in the country, with seven located in Hubei province.

Wuhan, with a sound foundation and condition for digital development, is also one of the first batch demonstration cities for the commercial use of 5G technology, according to Lv.

The province plans to speed up the construction of some big data projects, such as Wuhan Iron and Steel Group big data IDC and Tenglong data center. The number of national big data pilot demonstration enterprises will reach 30 within three years, with the artificial intelligence and big data industry worth more than 100 billion yuan.

In the meantime, the government will provide bonuses and subsidies, as well as issue special government bonds to support new infrastructure construction. A total of 200 million yuan in subsidies will be offered per year for the building of 5G base stations, the newspaper said.