BEIJING - China is expected to take the lead in 5G smartphone shipments in 2023, an industrial report showed.

Nearly 800 million 5G smartphones will be delivered in 2023 globally, while China's mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao might account for 34 percent of the total shipments, global technology market analyst firm Canalys said in a recent report.

Canalys forecasted that in 2020, 17.5 percent of smartphones shipped in China will be 5G-capable, and this percentage will rise sharply to 62.7 pct in 2023.

"Chinese operators' investment in 5G will reach 5 billion U.S. dollars this year, and around 70,000 to 90,000 5G base stations will be built across the country," said Canalys Analyst Mo Jia.

Canalys pointed out that government initiatives to accelerate 5G development are a powerful and effective driver for faster roll-out in some markets, such as China.

"China is also home to many major 5G equipment suppliers and smartphone vendors, which will be responsible for an aggressive marketing push over the next few years," says Nicole Peng, Vice President of Mobility at Canalys.

Full 5G deployment will take much longer and be much more complex than the previous network generation to realize the benefits of 5G beyond enhanced mobile broadband, Peng added.