SINGAPORE — Li Zhengmao, vice-president of China Mobile Communications Corporation, won the 2017 IEEE Distinguished Industry leader Award on Tuesday at the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) 2017.

The award is granted to at most one industry leader every year for his or her distinguished contribution to the global communication industry. Li is the first Chinese communication expert to be awarded.

"With the leadership in the field of technology development, Li significantly contributes the development of mobile communication industry, especially 4G/5G mobile systems, and transport and broadband networks," said the IEEE.

Li told Xinhua that he was awarded because China's astonishing progress in mobile communication technology field has attracted global attention. China Mobile has become the world's largest mobile operator in terms of network scale and customer size, which impressed the world.

"It is not only an award for myself, but also for China Mobile, China's communication industry, and even our country," he added.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a professional association formed in 1963. It is the world's largest association of technical professionals with more than 420,000 members in about 160 countries around the world.

The IEEE GLOBECOM is one of the IEEE Communications Society's two flagship conferences dedicated to driving innovation in nearly every aspect of communications.

Statistics show China Mobile has sold around 400 million units of 4G terminals this year. Its 4G service subscribers have exceeded 600 million. In terms of fixed-line broadband business, China Mobile has had more than 100 million household broadband service subscribers.