China's first pre-6G test network reportedly began operation in the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

According to state media platform The People’s Daily, the network integrates 6G technologies into an existing 5G framework, with overall capabilities reaching up to 10-times those of current 5G networks. This is according to developers Purple Mountain Laboratories, a major research and innovation platform that was jointly set up by Jiangsu Province and Nanjing City in 2018.

Although formal 6G specifications have yet to be defined and are not expected to be finalized until late 2028, Purple Mountain noted systematic verification had been carried out in areas including low-altitude inspections, industrial manufacturing, and physical AI. No further details were given in the report.

The Nanjing 6G Future Industry Fund Cluster was officially launched alongside the network, promising an investment of $485 million into core 6G technologies, integrating application scenarios, and talent building. The investment reflects 6G’s strategic priority in the nation’s current national planning cycle. Known as the "15th Five-Year Plan," the period runs from 2026 to 2030 and guides government and industrial investment priorities, with a technology focus on areas such as artificial general intelligence (AGI), sovereign semiconductor stacks, and quantum networking.

Within the framework, Nanjing is emerging as a leading test bed, being the first Chinese city to systematically pursue a “6G City” strategy. Support comes from technology partners including Huawei, Qualcomm, and China Mobile, while Ericsson also has “major” operations in the city.

China is already at the forefront of 6G experimentation, particularly within non-terrestrial network (NTN) environments, with reports from state media claiming the country accounts for approximately 40% of global 6G patent filings.

Industry trade group GSMA has also identified the nation as one of the key markets likely to lead early 6G deployments, alongside the United States, Europe, and India.

Earlier this year, China reportedly kicked off the second phase of technical 6G trials as part of the 15th Five-Year Plan, with officials from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) claiming initial efforts had “yielded a reserve of over 300 key 6G technologies.” Like with the Nanjing report, technical details were not disclosed.

More recently, Chinese researchers reportedly developed a device capable of supporting wireless standards from 2G to 6G. According to state media reports, a group of researchers from Peking University's School of Electronics created a "unified hardware platform" that leverages light to modulate wireless signals, and, in turn, generate wireless channels with parallel support for all generations of wireless communications up to 6G.