Datong in North China's Shanxi province was recently recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as national gigabit city. 

A national gigabit city is designated primarily based on 5G and gigabit optical network development. Since the ministry launched the national gigabit city construction campaign in 2021, 110 cities across the country have received the designation, accounting for about one-third of all prefecture-level cities.

Each gigabit city must have at least 80 percent gigabit optical network coverage and 5G network access in key places, 25 percent of its network users must be 5G users, and at least 5G and gigabit optical networks application cases.

Datong has had 6,171 5G base stations, 30.9 percent of its network users are 5G users, and 27.7 percent of network users have access to optical networks of 500M or above. 

The city has also applied 5G and gigabit optical networks in virtual reality and augmented reality, high-definition video, industrial manufacturing, digital government, smart education, telemedicine, and smart city sectors. 

The gigabit city designation for Datong is a reflection of the information and communications infrastructure development in Shanxi province. It will play a positive role in promoting the high-quality development of Shanxi's digital economy, stimulating information consumption and aiding the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.