MWC Shanghai 2021 offers an opportunity for delegates and visitors to hear expert insights and future trends, witness the latest technology and innovation, and discuss the issues that will affect the future of the mobile industry.

“MWC21 Shanghai is far more than just an event,” said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. “It’s a celebration of the power of intelligent connectivity and provides a platform for people to come together and push the industry and society forward. Bringing the MWC series of events back for 2021 has taken a superhuman effort, and we are looking forward to welcoming the mobile ecosystem back to Shanghai in February.”

The GSMA unlocks the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Its MWC series has earned a world-class reputation as the place to get business done by providing unrivaled networking opportunities. In 2019, MWC Shanghai included more than 500 exhibitors and 65,000 attendees from companies across the world.

This year, MWC Shanghai will welcome international attendees and audiences, with a virtual platform to accompany the physical event. Online attendees will be able to access live conference and partner content online.

The theme for the MWC series of events in 2021 is Connected Impact.

The program will showcase how the entire digital ecosystem continues to transform our lives and significantly support global recovery with technology visionaries sparking conversation and imagination through keynotes and panel discussions.

Attendees to MWC Shanghai 2021 will experience the latest breakthroughs in technology including 5G, AI, IoT, smart home and more. Returning exhibitors include China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, CICT, Ericsson , H3C, Huawei, Nokia Shanghai Bell and ZTE.

A host of new 5G-enabled devices and consumer services will be showcased by, Huawei Device, Nreal, Oppo, Qualcomm, Realme and vivo. Confirmed speakers include:

Keynotes speakers:

• Dr Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Director General, AMPT
• Yang Jie, Chairman, China Mobile
• Ke Ruiwen, Chairman, China Telecom
• Ken Hu, Rotating Chairman, Huawei
• Yang Yuanqing, Chairman & CEO, Lenovo
• Xu Chi, Founder & CEO, Nreal
• Xu Ziyang, CEO, ZTE

Session speakers include:

• Ilyas Khan, Founder & CEO, Cambridge Quantum Computing
• Edward Tian, Chairman, CBC Capital
• Oscar Ramos, Managing Director, Chinaccelerator
• Huang Haibo, Managing Director, China Mobile Fund Management Co.Ltd
• Alvin Foo, Co-Founder, Dao Ventures
• Eric Miao, Founder, Elevoc
• Michael Currie, Founder and CEO, Fling
• Jiin Joo Ong, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Garuda Robotics
• Pedro Ruao, Founder & CEO, Omniflow
• Max Peiro, CEO, Rehub
• Enrique Blanco, CTIO, Telefonica
• Huang Enshen, Founder & CEO, Xeniro

Leading 5G INnovation

With almost 700,000 5G cell sites and over 150 million compatible handsets now sold, China has established itself amongst the global 5G leaders and will feature strongly at MWC Shanghai 2021 with the 5G IN Summit and 5G INnovation Zone.

GSMA 5G IN, seeks to uncover disruptors and new business models, as well as celebrate pioneers and innovators in the 5G field.

The experience spans five themed zones; Better Future, Entrepreneurs, Industrial Applications, 5G mmWave, and XR. Attendees will experience leading-edge technology and revolutionary commercial, industrial applications, as well as the most forward-looking trends and insights.

“5G is shaping the future, and China will continue to be at the forefront of this change,” said Sihan Bo Chen, Head of Greater China for the GSMA. “Every sector is undergoing deep transformation, and connected progress will stimulate global recovery and help us overcome the effects of the pandemic.”

For further details on exhibiting at or attending MWC Shanghai 2021, please visit www.mwcshanghai.com

Milken‘s ranking index for this 2019 version comprises nine indicators—one-year (2016-2017) and five-year (2012-2017) growth for jobs, wages, and gross regional product (GRP) per capita; three-year (2014-2017) foreign direct investment (FDI) growth; FDI/GRP ratio (2017); and the location quotient (LQ) for high value-added industry employment (2017). This index categorizes Chinese cities into large and small groups to yield more meaningful comparisons and insights.

Best Performing First- and Second-tier Cities in China

1. Chengdu, Sichuan (四川省成都市)
2. Shenzhen, Guangdong (广东省深圳市)
3. Beijing (北京市)
4. Lanzhou, Gansu (甘肃省兰州市)
5. Zhengzhou, Henan (河南省郑州市)
6. Xi’an, Shaanxi (陕西省西安市)
7. Guiyang, Guizhou (贵州省贵阳市)
8. Changchun, Jilin (吉林省长春市)
9. Wuhan, Hubei (湖北省武汉市)
10. Xiamen, Fujian (福建省厦门市)

Chengdu in Sichuan province is ranked the best performing city in 2019. With an established industry base and extensive new high-tech build-up, Chengdu bears the fruit of the successful “western development” strategy the city embarked upon 20 years ago.

Shenzhen in the Guangdong province secures second place in the large cities group, dropping from the top rank last year (2018). Shenzhen has reinvented itself from a low-cost gadget manufacturing center to an innovation powerhouse.

The city is the birthplace of a new generation of telecom products and the tech-entrepreneur hub of China. Most recently, the Chinese government has deeded Shenzhen with the mission of “building a model city” for the world.

Beijing, the capital of China and a leader in developing the Tongzhou district, which will become the home to the Beijing municipal government, capturing the third spot with the support of an inflow of FDI.

Lanzhou, an ancient outpost and a modern gateway city to the West, takes the fourth place. Infrastructure building is driving the regional economy as the One Belt, One Road Initiative extends via there to Central Asia.

Zhengzhou, the central geographic location in Henan province, dropped one spot from 2018, ranking fifth.
This “iPhone City” is not only a production center for the international markets but also a supplier for increasingly affluent Chinese consumers.

Xi’an in Shaanxi province and Guiyang in Guizhou province are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Both cities are located in the western part of China, with Xi’an in the northwest and Guiyang in the southwest.

Both are experiencing an increase in infrastructure building. While Xi’an is upgrading its industry base and transportation infrastructure, Guiyang is building the next generation of energy supply, transportation, and electronic storage from the ground up.

Changchun has declined two spots from 2018. With the recent slowing of the transportation sector, the city’s automakers may generate less steam powering the city economy, despite healthy demand for high-speed rail carts and engine production.

The ongoing industry restructuring in the northeast will continue to impact the Changchun’s performance.

Wuhan advances seven spots this year. High-tech industries, such as chip-making and biomedicine, continue to add growth potential to the city’s economy.

As a coastal city, Xiamen’s economic development focus is on the integration of air-ground transportation/shipment hubs and related high-tech components.

Best Performing Third-tier Cities in China

1. Dongguan, Guangdong (广东省, 东莞市)
2. Nantong, Jiangsu (江苏省南通市)
3. Zhuhai, Guangdong (广东省珠海市)
4. Taizhou, Jiangsu (江苏省泰州市)
5. Dazhou, Sichuan (四川省达州市)
6. Yingtan, Jiangxi (江西省鹰潭市)
7. Luohe, Henan (河南省漯河市)
8. Anshun, Guizhou (贵州省安顺市)
9. Suzhou, Jiangsu (江苏省苏州市)
10. Maanshan, Anhui (安徽省马鞍山市)

Dongguan in the Guangdong province takes the number one spot for the second year in a row among the small cities group. In fewer than five years, Dongguan has turned from being labeled as the “Ghost Mall” city in 2012 to become a leading robotic production and artificial intelligence (AI) development center.

Nantong’s location has been its most significant asset as the nexus of both a seaport and river port while also connecting the powerhouse Shanghai and the technology center Suzhou. Industrial activities and commercial services are the key pillars of the regional economy.

Zhuhai in the Pearl River Delta cluster ranks third, as the backyard to Asia’s premium gaming center, Macao. Leisure, retirement, and business services industries define this growing city.

Taizhou in the Jiangsu province lands at the fourth spot. The city has been on the top 10 list since the inception of this report series.

Ranked at fifth and sixth are Dazhou in the Sichuan province, and Yingtan in Jiangxi, respectively. It is the first time Dazhou and Yingtan have ranked in the top 10 list. Both cities’ have agriculture- and mining-based economies that are evolving into modern manufacturing and food processing centers. They are both also river transportation hubs in their respective regions.

Luohe in the Henan province ranks at the seventh spot and is the only agricultural-based economy that has appeared on the top 10 ranking twice.

Ranked the eighth is Anshun in the Guizhou province. Both national and local policies and a renewed drive to add technologies into a traditional beverage production elevate its economic performance.

Suzhou in Jiangsu province is placed at the ninth spot. As the first Science and Technology Park joint-venture between the city and the Singaporean government, Suzhou has been the technology powerhouse in the Yangtze River Economic cluster.

Maanshan has emerged from an old steel industry base to become a newer, more diversified manufacturing powerhouse. Its proximity to the city of Nanjing, the capital of the Jiangsu province, provides the
city with strong R&D support.

China’s overall image is steadily improving overseas. Countries whose score of China rose the most were all developed countries; awareness of the Belt and Road Initiative rose significantly from three years ago; Chinese food and high-speed railway are most mentioned cultural and high-tech elements.

The 2016-2017 China National Image Global Survey was jointly released on January 5, 2018 by the Academy for Contemporary China-World Studies (former Centre for International Communication Studies under the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration), Kantar Millward Brown and Lightspeed.

The annual survey, which was the fifth in this series, interviewed citizens of 22 countries, covering Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia), Europe (the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Spain and Holland), North America (the US, Canada and Mexico), South America (Brazil, Argentina and Chile), Oceania (Australia) and Africa (South Africa).

With 500 respondents from each country, a total of 11,000 respondents selected from the global panel of Lightspeed Research were included in this survey.

Trying to present a comprehensive view about China, the survey polled the global respondents on China’s overall image and influence, and its images related to politics, diplomacy, economy, culture, science and technology since 2016.

China’s overall image is steadily improving internationally

China scores 6.22 on the 10-point system of its overall image, maintaining a slight upward curve in recent years. Generally, developing countries had better impressions of China than developed countries, but China’s image improved more in developed countries than developing ones. Compared with 2015, the three countries whose score of China rose the most were all developed countries: Italy (up 0.5 points), Canada (up 0.4 points) and the UK (up 0.4 points).

(All charts are based on 10,500 overseas samples unless stated otherwise)

A big oriental country with a rich history, a contributor to global development

A big oriental country with a rich history and full of charm: This was the most impressive image of China in the eyes of overseas respondents (57%), those in developed countries, in particular. Nearly 40% of the overseas respondents recognized China’s contribution to global development, and the figure was nearly 50% in developing countries (48%).

Overseas respondents are optimistic about China’s future development. Those in developed and developing countries both believed that China’s international status and global influence would continue to grow and that China would lead the new round of globalization and contribute more to global governance.

An increasing number of overseas respondents –17% in 2013, 20% in 2014 and 24% in 2015 –thought that China would become the world’s largest economy, and the proportion was 33% in Survey 2016-2017. This showed that the international community had more confidence in China’s economic prospects.

There were still people, 36%, who agreed that China still faces such challenges as economic disparity and environmental pollution.

Belt and Road Initiative is highly praised

In Survey 2014, only 6% of the overseas respondents had heard of both the “Silk Road economic belt” and the “21st century maritime Silk Road”. The ratio rose to 18% in Survey 2016-2017, and was as high as 40% in Indonesia, India and other countries situated along the routes.

Most of the respondents thought that the Initiative is significant to their countries and themselves, to regional and global economy, and to global governance. Those in developing countries and the youth welcomed the Initiative more.

Relatively positive reaction to China’s growing economic influence

China’s economic influence ranks second in the world, next only to the US.

Similar to the previous survey, overseas respondents overall thought that China’s economic development promotes global economic development, that China is willing to cooperate with others in economy and trade, and that their countries have benefited from China’s economic growth. Developing countries’ comments on China’s economic influence were more positive than developed countries.

In the eyes of overseas respondents, Chinese enterprises’ entry and presence brings along new capital and technologies and creates job opportunities to other countries.

Compared with the previous survey, there was a notable drop (-10 percentage points) in the number of people who feared about the negative effect of the Chinese enterprises on the development of local firms and brands.

Traditional brands enjoy higher popularity

Lenovo, Huawei, Alibaba, Air China (up 2 notches) and Bank of China (up 6) are the five most renowned Chinese brands among overseas respondents. Compared with the previous survey, Bank of China, BYD (up 7) and other brands of traditional industries gained in popularity.

Cuisine best represents Chinese culture, high-speed rail most recognized high-tech achievement

Speaking of the elements that best represent Chinese culture, 52% of the overseas respondents chose cuisine, 47% ticked traditional Chinese medicine, and 44% marked off martial arts.

Overseas and Chinese respondents held different views in this regard. Compared with the Chinese themselves, the overseas respondents had a much lower recognition of Confucius and Confucianism (Chinese 62% vs foreign 26%), classics (55% vs 22%), and folk show and acrobatics (36% vs 16%), but had a higher recognition of Chinese products and scientific inventions.

About 59% of the overseas respondents made a positive assessment of China’s technological innovation capacity, and the proportion was as high as 71% in developing countries.

High-speed rail (36%) was China’s best known technological achievement, followed by manned space flight (19%) and the supercomputer (16%).

Interest in visiting China

Of the overseas respondents, nearly 30% planned to study, work or travel in China in the next three years. The proportion was nearly 40% in developing countries, with the top four being Indonesia (60%), Saudi Arabia (52%), India (51%) and Russia (41%).

Beijing (38%), Hong Kong (27%) and Shanghai (25%) were the three most favored Chinese cities among the overseas people. This was generally the same as in the previous survey. More cities were gaining potential visitors, showing an increasing diversity in their destinations.

REPORT Digital screens wider and deeper influence in China

China is expected to invest up to twice as much as the US, or US$658 billion (4.5 trillion yuan) in another five years, in the back end of R&D chain, focusing on translating basic and applied research into commercial products and new manufacturing processes according to BCG.

Contributions by the private sector account for 34% of university R&D budgets in China while companies contribute less than 5% in the US. About 38% of published research in China focuses on engineering, comparing with 11% in the US.

Development accounts for 84% of China’s total R&D spending. And, China’s spending on development rose by a compound annual growth rate of around 20% over the past decade, compared with 5% in the US. In 2003, the US spent four times as much as China on development research; in 2013, the two nations spent roughly equal amounts.

China GDP grew faster than expected in Q1 2017

South Korea tops Bloomberg’s 2015 ranking of the world’s 50 most innovative countries ranking. The U.S. places the sixth, and China 22nd.

In high-tech category in the ranking that isn’t adjusted for the size of the economy or population, U.S. ranks on top, followed by China, Japan, South Korea, and Canada.

China also ranks 3rd in patents category, following South Korea and Japan.

Xiaomi was ranked the most innovative Chinese company (35th globally) in BCG’s 2014 global innovation survey. Tencent (47th) and Huawei (50th) also made it to the BCG “The Most Innovative Companies” Top 50 list.

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