During the conference, vivo says it "leveraged an onsite 5G mmWave base station to transmit 8K UHD video from a server to a vivo smartphone, which then wirelessly projected the UHD video to an 8K television."

The vivo smartphone used at the exhibit supports multiple 5G Sub-6GHz and mmWave frequency bands (n257/258/260/261), using NSA dual connectivity (EN-DC). The company said this demonstration highlighted its strength "in the R&D of 5G mmWave and the potential for commercialisation of 5G mmWave."

MWC Shanghai 2021 included a 5G mmWave Zone - jointly hosted by the organiser GSMA and 39 partners, including vivo and Qualcomm - to exhibit and test the needs of potential application scenarios of 5G mmWave, especially in winter sport events. The zone demonstrated the potential for 5G mmWave to create a hi-tech and intelligent Winter Olympics, and the "boundless possibilities" for China's mmWave industry ecosystem and standardisation.

At present, vivo reminds us that "global 5G service is mainly based on sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums. Millimetre waves are electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of 1 mm to 10 mm and a frequency range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz.

"Compared with frequency bands below 6GHz, mmWave has unique advantages such as larger bandwidth, lower air interface delay, and more flexible air interface configuration, which can effectively meet the needs of wireless communication system capacity, transmission rates, and differentiated applications.

"Low-frequency and high-frequency hybrid networking will become the basic architecture of the 5G mobile communication system.

"In recent years, vivo has invested heavily in 5G mmWave technology and has achieved great results. In 2016, the vivo 5G team started pre-research on key mmWave technologies and actively participated in the 3GPP R15/R16 mmWave standardisation, making important contributions to 5G mmWave standards."

Last September, "in a field test organised by the IMT2020 (5G) Promotion Group in Beijing’s Huairou district, the peak rate of downlink 4CC of vivo’s 5G mmWave smartphone reached 2.06 gigabits per second (Gbps) with a distance spanning up to 1.3 km (bounded by LOS condition at field).

"Last November at the 2020 World 5G Convention, vivo showcased how 5G mmWave smartphones could be connected with wireless network emulators, attracting the interest of many industry insiders."

With its huge potential and broad applications, vivo says it "will be committed to the development of 5G mmWave technology and applications, and work with industry partners to unleash the greater potential of 5G."

Just how much the West will China's 5G technologies to become global standard is also yet to be seen, given the US, UK and Australian battles with Huawei over 5G technologies and its participation in the 5G networks of those and other countries.

That said, until the West has factories that can manufacture the high-tech that Chinese factories can, or those of Taiwan that China threatens to one day take over, broad Chinese involvement in 5G continues prominently, with vivo's prototypes and achievements a clear sign of that.