China launches world's 1st 4G mobile system

China has launched the world's first fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication system in Shanghai.

The home-grown 4G system provides speeds of up to 100 mbps in wireless transmission of data and images many times faster than that of current mobile technology.

The rollout of the trial, which has cost $19.2 million, is a milestone in the development of China's 4G technologies, the official 'China Daily' reported.

"It testifies that the technology we've developed is feasible and brings us one step closer to put it into commercial use," a leading expert involved in the programme, You Xiaohu said.

China initiated the B3G (Beyond 3G)/4G research project in 2001 under the label Future Technology for Universal Radio Environment, or FuTURE Project.

The country has set a goal of conducting field tests of the 4G system and putting it into trial commercial use between 2006 and 2010, according to the FuTURE Project.

"The Shanghai system shows that we have entered the final phase of our project," said You, also the principal of the FuTURE Project's expert panel.

The FuTURE Project involves about 10 leading domestic institutions.

It has obtained more than 200 patents and some of its core technologies have been adopted by international standards organisations, positioning China as one of the world's front-runners in 4G technologies, the report said.