Beijing will set up a 5G industry fund of 5 billion yuan (US$720 million) and a 5G research institute in the city's E-town, according to an announcement at the Beijing 5G Industry Development and Investment Development Summit on Wednesday. 

The fund will contribute to the 5G construction of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, following the deployment of half of the 5G base stations in E-town of Beijing. 

According to reports, the 5G industry fund is the first of the kind involving the Beijing municipal government. The fund is jointly established by Beijing E-town International Investment & Development Co.-a state-owned investment and financing platform of E-town-Beijing Sci-Tech Innovation Investment Management Co., and China Jianyin Investment. It will focus on investing in leading high-tech firms across the 5G industrial chain.

The 5G research institute will gather industry elites, dedicated to industry research, business planning, and product management. It will focus on 5G upstream chips and industry innovation applications, such as AI, industrial internet, mobile healthcare, and so on. Through comprehensive deployment in the industrial chain, the institute aims to form synergy with the 5G industry fund to empower and fund enterprises.

Beijing is a pilot city in China for the construction and application of 5G networks in China. Currently, 50 percent of the 5G base stations in the city are to be set up in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. 

In order to maintain its first-mover advantage in the 5G era, E-town aims to make use of 5G to develop emerging industries and technologies. It is home to more than 30 enterprises up and down the industrial chain. 

In terms of core devices and technologies, there are Hongshan Information Research Institute, RF Micro Devices, and Sunway. In vertical applications, there is the National Intelligent Vehicles and Smart Transportation (Beijing-Hebei) Demonstration Zone E-Town Base. They will jointly develop the Smart E-town project. 

Not long ago, the area launched the construction of "5G E-town" and made an industrialization layout of key 5G projects. Since then, it has set up more than 200 experimental 5G base stations, more than 50 of which have been put into service. It's estimated that by the end of the year, more than 200 base stations will be able to provide services to users, enabling 5G networks to cover the entire area of 60 square kilometers.

According to an E-town official, the area will focus on three aspects of 5G development: advancing the construction of 5G infrastructure and platforms and deploying 5G networks in the development area; developing such key technologies as antenna, band elimination filters, and optical chips; and planning 5G applications such as Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and 8K HD so as to secure the first-mover advantage of the 5G vertical industry.

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