China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) reported a substantial expansion of the country’s mobile network infrastructure in 2025, with total mobile telephone base stations reaching 12.87 million — a net increase of 227,000 over the year. The most notable shift was in 5G, where the number of base stations climbed to 4.838 million, a net addition of 588,000, lifting 5G’s share of all mobile base stations to 37.6%, four percentage points higher than at the end of 2024.
The rollout did not come at the expense of 4G: China still operates 7.192 million 4G base stations, which rose by 80,000 during the year. MIIT’s bulletin also highlighted a rapid uptake of 5G RedCap (Reduced Capability) access: some 2.064 million 5G sites — 42.7% of all 5G base stations — now support RedCap, which targets lower-power, lower-cost connections for the mass market of IoT devices, wearables and sensors.
Taken together, the figures show China pushing ahead with densification and capability upgrades rather than a sudden substitution of 4G by 5G. Operators continue to add macro and small cells to support both consumer traffic and the industrial use-cases that Beijing and carriers have long identified as strategic priorities — smart manufacturing, connected transport, and enterprise private networks.
The expansion has several commercial and geopolitical implications. Domestically, more 5G infrastructure underpins efforts to migrate services from fibre and 4G to higher-bandwidth, lower-latency platforms that can host edge computing and AI-driven applications. For equipment makers and operators — including large state-linked players such as China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, and vendors like Huawei and ZTE — the sustained build encourages continued capex and product development, notably in energy-efficient radio units and software-defined network features.
RedCap’s rapid spread is particularly noteworthy because it signals a pivot from high-performance consumer 5G to mass-market IoT deployments that do not require the full capabilities of enhanced mobile broadband. RedCap’s lower complexity reduces device cost and power consumption, making it attractive for sensors, wearables and many industrial trackers — a critical step if 5G is to move beyond consumer smartphones and into the long-promised machine-to-machine economy.
Challenges remain. Operators must balance continuing network investment with the need to improve monetisation and return on capital amid slower service revenue growth. The upgrade path also raises questions about energy use, spectrum planning, and the pace of migrating legacy services off older generations. Internationally, China’s ongoing infrastructure consolidation and vendor strength occur against a backdrop of export controls and security scrutiny in Western markets, shaping where and how its vendors can expand abroad.
Looking ahead, the MIIT data suggest the coming year will be about deepening 5G’s use cases rather than simply increasing headline coverage. Success will be measured by enterprise adoption of private 5G, the growth of a RedCap device ecosystem, and whether operators can build new revenue streams from slices, edge compute and industrial applications while keeping costs and energy consumption under control.