China is expectable to develop 500 million 3G users within five years and the fourth generation (4G) mobile telecom technology will be exploited in the short run, with 2G and 3G technology being developed in the meantime, said Chen Jinqiao, an industrial expert with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). 
Despite the conclusion of a government-orchestrated industry reshuffle, which was aimed at introducing more competition into the industry, China Mobile maintains user addition of around 7 million per month, while China Unicom and China Telecom could hardly challenge its leading role in the field of 2G at present.

Chen reckoned that the issuance of 3G licenses will ease the imbalance of China's telecom industry as China Telecom and China Unicom can accelerate their development through CDMA2000 and WCDMA technology, respectively.

Besides, after the licensing, a telecom industry chain involving 3G network construction, terminal equipment manufacture, operating service, and information service, will be formed, and the industry chain will attract social investment of around 1.8-2 trillion yuan in the following three years. Enditem

Source:Xinhua