China is becoming a global leader in the research and development of 5G standards and the overall market of country's 5G industry is expected to reach 1.15 trillion yuan ($180.5 billion) by 2026, a nearly 50 percent growth from its 4G market, a consulting company said, Economic Information Daily reported.

In a white paper on the development of China's 5G industry, CCID Consulting said the wide coverage stage of 4G in China has almost finished, with the number of 4G base stations reaching 3.28 million. It predicted the number of 5G base stations will be 1.1-1.5 times of 4G base stations.

The industrial chain of 5G is usually divided into four parts - base station systems, network architectures, terminal devices and application scenarios, according to the report.

China's major device makers have taken a leading position, based on the market advantages of China and their early layout on technical standards, the report said. With fast commercialization of 5G, domestic vendors are speeding up their R&D in the area of terminal devices and meeting fierce competitions

"China's 5G industrial chain is relatively complete at present and it has developed certain advantages in some parts, however, there are still some difficulties and bottlenecks," Li Zhen, a senior analyst with the communication research center of CCID Consulting, said.

He said the 5G standards have not yet been fully determined, some segments of the industrial chain are weak, domestic telecom operators are underpowered and the 5G spectrum resources are not abundant and qualified enough.