China hatches a plan to lead in the adoption of new internet protocol as Beijing eyes internet of things
- China has overtaken India to become No 1 in terms of IPv6 addresses, with 528 million as of May this year, representing more than half of its internet users
- Beijing’s targets are ambitious as the country’s internet content and service connection providers are not in a hurry to shift to the new protocol
China wants to achieve global leadership in the next-generation IPv6 internet protocol by 2025 as Beijing prepares itself for the internet of things (IoT) era, when a washing machine or a microwave oven may have its own IP address.
According to a document released by the Cybersecurity Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information this month, China plans to boost its active IPv6 users to 800 million by 2025, with 70 per cent of all online traffic at that time relying on the new protocol.
The plan envisions that China will have a “single stack” network by 2030, totally replacing the existing IPv4 protocol which has been in place since the early 1980s.
Beijing is pushing for a roll-out of the new protocol because it is “an inevitable trend in internet upgrading, a key direction of cyberspace technology innovation, and a key supporting infrastructure for a powerful cyberspace country”, according to the regulators.
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China has to accelerate its adoption of IPv6 or risk “being left behind [in IPv6] if we don’t move forward or move forward fast enough”, the regulators said.
The country’s state-owned enterprises, the financial industry, industrial applications, education networks, health care systems, transport, communications and media were singled out in the notice as sectors required to adopt IPv6.
