The Guangxi 5G Industrial Association is set up in Nanning on March 8. [Photo by Lin Jieqi/chinanews.com]

The Guangxi 5G Industrial Association was set up in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on March 8, with the aim of helping to establish the ASEAN-facing digital Silk Road and promote the construction of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor.

The association has forged an alliance with 5G industrial associations in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces to push forward cooperation and communication in the 5G industry. 

The association will set up a communication mechanism for relevant parties in the 5G industrial chain and boost the coordinated development of basic resources to promote the application of 5G products all over the world, said Xi Yang, director of the Guangxi Big Data Development Bureau.

Guangxi has released a batch of documents in recent years - such as the development plan for Guangxi's digital economy and the action plan for speeding up 5G industrial development in Guangxi - to boost ASEAN-related information infrastructure construction and build the region into a global 5G information hub.

Guangxi has been active in building digital technological innovation platforms such as the China-ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center, the China-ASEAN Blockchain Innovation Center and the Beibu Gulf Big Data Trading Center, offering strong support for digital industry cooperation between China and ASEAN. 

The total output of Guangxi's digital economy reached 726.7 billion yuan ($111.7 billion) in 2020 and the region has clustered more than 13,000 digital economy market entities and 31,000 5G base stations.