Chen Xiaotian (right), general-manager of China Unicom IoT Co., Ltd -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Unicom in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province -- says that China Unicom aims to grow into a world-leading IoT service provider in the era of 5G during an interview on July 6. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"China Unicom, the world's fourth-largest mobile service supplier, aims to grow into a world-leading IoT service provider in the era of 5G," said Chen Xiaotian.

Chen, the general-manager of China Unicom IoT Co., Ltd. -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Unicom in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province -- made the remarks ahead of the 2019 World Internet of Things Expo, which is set to be held in Wuxi, Jiangsu, from Sept 7 to 10.

Chen believes that in an IoT era, mobile operators not only need to build a 5G network, they also need to construct a platform which can be connected to various IoT equipment via networks and manage all the data collected by the platform.

At present, the growth in mobile Internet connections is slowing worldwide while IoT connections in the world are seeing robust growth. By the end of 2020, the number of IoT devices is expected to reach 50 billion.

Constructed in 2014, the IoT equipment management platform built by China Unicom IoT Co includes more than 124 million such devices. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In 2014, China Unicom IoT Co started constructing an IoT equipment management platform. In May 2015, the platform was put into service.

After four years of development, more than 124 million various IoT devices are being managed by the platform.

Chen noted that their platform is capable of connecting all the IoT devices of their clients nationwide and helping them to manage these devices.

The Nanjing-based company also partnered up with international telecom carriers to manage clients' devices around the world. In other words, a China-made IoT device can be connected to China Unicom IoT Co's platform via the company's international partners even when the device is exported to other countries.

The company is also seeking to improve the platform by cooperating with Huawei and IBM to offer its clients better services in IoT device management and data analysis.

To become a world-leading IoT service provider requires the construction of an ecological circle from bottom-level chip manufacturing to top-level application, according to Chen.

In 2017, initiated by China Unicom, an IoT industry alliance was established which includes most of the businesses related to the IoT industry.