The signing ceremony between Ningbo's Hangzhou Bay New Zone and China Mobile Ningbo Branch on pushing forward the city's 5G network construction [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The administrative committee of Ningbo's Hangzhou Bay New Zone inked an agreement with China Mobile Ningbo Branch on March 13 to push forward the construction of the city's 5G networks and boost the local digital economy.

According to the deal, China Mobile Ningbo Branch will set the zone as a pilot area for the 5G networks, thus improving the zone's information infrastructure and promoting the city's interconnectivity potential. 

Following the trend of a new round of technological and industrial innovations, the zone has been focusing on developing intelligent technologies in its urban construction, manufacturing and government administration, to drive the integration of the real economy with internet, big data and artificial intelligence. 

The Geely Auto Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Manufacturing Plant, where Geely's global research and development headquarters sit, now has 5G mobile stations nearby, with 5G signals covering every corner of the plant.

The Geely Auto Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Manufacturing Plant, where Geely's global research and development headquarters sit [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

With the broad application of the 5G internet of vehicles technology in the zone, the local authorities plan to invest 50 billion yuan ($7.44 billion) in building a global manufacturing center of new-energy intelligent-connected vehicles in the coming years.

"We plan to introduce at least 30 research institutes and 100 manufacturers in the next three to five years to build the zone into a global manufacturing center of new-energy intelligent-connected vehicles, a center of smart home appliances in China, and the most influential hub of smart terminal industries in East China," said an official in charge of the local digital economy. 

There is also an industrial park in the zone for the development of the local digital economy. With an investment of 4.6 billion yuan ($685 million), the park now has 15 companies settled there, and the second phase of the project, worth 1.6 billion yuan, started construction at the beginning of the year.

The industrial park for the development of local digital economy in Ningbo's Hangzhou Bay New Zone [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]