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MWC Shanghai returns as in-person event after 2-year pandemic hiatus as telecoms sector sharpens focus on 5G, internet, augmented reality

  • This year’s event will focus on three main areas: 5G transformation, the Internet of Things and augmented reality
  • That focus at MWC Shanghai underscores the importance of next-generation mobile network development in China

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MWC Shanghai, shown here in June 2019, returns this month with a sharpened focus on 5G transformation in China, the telecommunications industry’s largest 5G market. Photo: Visual China Group via Getty Images
Lilian Zhang
MWC Shanghai, the regional edition of the world’s largest mobile communications industry trade show, returns as in-person event on Wednesday after a two-year hiatus owing to previous strict Covid-19 restrictions in China.
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This year’s event, which will run from June 28 to 30 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, will be held under the theme of “Velocity” and focus on three main areas: 5G transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR), according to London-based organiser the GSM Association, which represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide.

This year marks not only the first decade in China for MWC Shanghai, but also the event’s “grand and comprehensive” offline return since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, said Sihan Bo Chen, GSMA’s head of Greater China, at a press conference on Sunday.

“The most significant transformation witnessed over the past decade has been the [mobile communications] industry’s transition from 4G to the 5G era,” she said, adding that the next-generation mobile technology is expected to become fully mainstream in various countries by 2030.

People walk past a sign of this year’s edition of MWC Barcelona, the flagship annual mobile industry trade show organised by the GSM Association, during its opening on February 27, 2023, in Spain. Photo: Xinhua
People walk past a sign of this year’s edition of MWC Barcelona, the flagship annual mobile industry trade show organised by the GSM Association, during its opening on February 27, 2023, in Spain. Photo: Xinhua

MWC Shanghai’s offline return follows the GMA Association’s successful staging of flagship annual trade show MWC Barcelona as an in-person event from February 27 to March 2 this year in Spain.

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The event last year was cancelled because of rigid Covid-19 control measures imposed on the metropolis, home to a population of 26 million. Its 2021 edition was held in February, following a break in 2020 as the global pandemic started, with 17,500 attendees offline and more than 7,000 visitors online.

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