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SHANGHAI — A recent 5G upgrade is both benefiting and bemusing residents of a small village near Shanghai.

“What 5G?” said a convenience store owner in Zhongbu, about 30 km from the center of the metropolis. “Most of the folks here carry a smartphone that works just fine on 4G.”

“My eyesight is poor,” an elderly man told Nikkei Asia on a recent visit. “I hardly use my 4G phone unless I need to call my kids.”

Zhongbu was recently designated Shanghai’s first “5G village.” Some 600 households within the 3.67-sq.- kilometer village have been promised faster connections and less lag time for downloads with 5G. Smart bracelets have been handed out to older people to indicate their whereabouts and health status.

The scheme is part of China’s high-tech and rural transformation drives, although most people in the village are content with the existing infrastructure. In particular, 5G development is expected to accelerate over the next two to three years, according to a policy paper released last month by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a think tank that operates under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The expansion is line with the country’s “dual-circulation” development strategy aimed at achieving an innovation-driven economy, and moving away from one focused on exports and investment.

China already has a high mobile penetration rate. Its three largest operators had a combined 1.6 billion users as of the end of November, including 1.292 billion 4G users, according to official data. But industry players want 5G to be standard network for smartphones, touting faster download speeds and benefits for sectors such as online health care.

Village officials in Zhongbu told state media that some 30 newly installed 5G-enabled features, including smoke detectors and surveillance cameras, would keep the commune “free of thieves.”

“I may consider upgrading to a 5G phone for entertainment in the future,” said a woman who identified herself as Shi.

“With the 5G-enabled smart bracelet, my mother can alert me anytime,” a woman in Zhongbu said on state TV last month.

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China’s commercial 5G network development plans are off to a fast start, as the next-generation mobile system will be deployed on the high-speed rail link connecting Guangzhou and Shenzhen to Hong Kong.

That infrastructure project was announced by China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator by subscribers, at an event in Hong Kong last week as a joint initiative with its main telecommunications equipment supplier, Huawei Technologies.

The plan to provide ultra-fast 5G mobile service on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, a line that stretches 142 kilometres and serves seven stations, comes several months after China Mobile and Huawei said they will deploy 5G network coverage at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station by the end of this year. Hongqiao would become the world’s first railway station to allow passengers to experience mobile data speeds up to 100 times faster than what current 4G networks provide.

In separate telephone and WeChat inquiries, representatives from China Mobile and Huawei did not immediately provide details on the cost or timetable of 5G coverage for the high-speed rail link.

Efforts to quickly introduce commercial 5G services in China mark the country’s attempt to move ahead in the global race to roll out advanced telecoms networks that will help power the industrial internet, autonomous driving and smart cities.

In an interview, 20-year telecoms industry veteran Zhang Wei, technical director at telecoms events organiser InfoEX-World Services, provided a brief rundown on what 5G will mean to commuters on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and potentially, to the broader hi-tech industry in China.

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The world’s first 5G-enabled railway station is on its way! The Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station is the first railway station built upon the 5G digital indoor system, with China Mobile and Huawei launching the network’s deployment there on Monday. By the end of 2019, the station will be fully covered by 5G signals.

Here’s a video and photos to show how the 5G station looks like.

Passengers experience smart robot delivery in the 5G experience area of Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Feb 18.

A Huawei employee introduces the 5G-enabled services at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station after the company unveiled its first 5G digital indoor systems in the station on February 19, 2019.

A visitor uses Huawei’s 5G Wi-Fi service as the company unveiled its first 5G digital indoor system at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Feb 18.

A man experiences VR in the 5G experience area at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Feb 18.

Staff members show 5G equipment at the press conference at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Feb 18.

A woman interacts with a 5G smart robot at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Feb 18.

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Xiaomi Corp is intensifying its efforts in the premium segment, as it works hard to introduce high-end components and engineering techniques to its latest smartphone models in order to rival players such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said the Mi 9, the model unveiled on Wednesday, starts from 2,999 yuan ($447), a shift from its previous flagship smartphones which were priced around 1,999 yuan.

“Delivering cost-effective products has been an important ingredient of Xiaomi’s success, but it could be somewhat a hurdle to the company’s future development,” Lei said at the launch event in Beijing.

“We will continue pursuing extremely good experiences and engineering techniques with the Mi brand by focusing on middle-to-high range smartphones. Meanwhile, the independent brand Red Mi is positioned to carry on making cost-effective handsets,” Lei said.

The Mi 9 is likely to be Xiaomi’s last flagship model priced under 3,000 yuan, he said, indicating that the company will climb even higher in the price range in the future.

Xiaomi said it spent 4 billion yuan on research and development from January to September in 2018.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Beijing-based company was ranked as the fourth largest vendor in China, with its shipments down to 10.3 million units from 15.9 million units a year earlier, according to market research company International Data Corp.

Xiaomi’s diversified strategy came as China’s smartphone market and the global market reach saturation point, with overall shipments declining for consecutive quarters.

Against this backdrop, a string of local players are gearing up to expand their presence in high-end markets which are now generating more profits. Vivo, for instance, unveiled its new brand iQOO whose price is likely to exceed 5,000 yuan.

Jia Mo, an analyst at market research company Canalys, said there is still big potential in the premium smartphone segment. Although smartphone sales in China declined 14 percent in 2018, the segment priced above $600, on the contrary, jumped 10 percent as consumers switch to better models.

“The starting price of 2,999 yuan already marks a big step forward for Xiaomi in raising its average price. But given that Xiaomi’s users are more price-sensitive, it may take one or two years for the company to really gain a presence in the premium segment,” Jia added.

The Mi 9 is equipped with Qualcomm Inc’s latest high-end chipset Snapdragon 855, three rear cameras and fast wireless charging.

To cushion the possible negative impact of the price increase on sales, Xiaomi on Wednesday also unveiled a smaller-screen version, the Mi 9 SE, at a starting price of 1,999 yuan.

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Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has unveiled the first consumer-ready foldable smartphone on Thursday, which serves as a tablet when fully opened and becomes a phone when closed, at the company’s annual Unpacked event in San Francisco.

The new phone, called the Galaxy Fold, features the world’s first 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display that allows users to open and close the device a countless number of times without degradation. The South Korean tech giant says the new smartphone is creating “a new mobile category”.

When folded up, the Galaxy Fold has a 4.6-inch display designed to fit in the palm of a hand, and when opened up, it has a 7.3-inch display that’s tablet-sized. The device contains a total of six cameras – three on the back, two inside and one facing front. There are also two batteries, one on each side of the fold, that allow the tablet to more easily fold in half.

“Today, Samsung is writing the next chapter in mobile innovation history by changing what’s possible in a smartphone. Galaxy Fold introduces a completely new category that unlocks new capabilities never seen before,” said DJ Koh, president and CEO of the IT & mobile communications division of Samsung Electronics, at the launch event.

It’s available in both an LTE and 5G version, starting at a whopping $1,980. April 26 is the launch date.

Samsung first unveiled a prototype of the Galaxy Fold in November, when it promised that a model people will actually be able to buy was launching soon.

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