Physical and Digital Infrastructure Across Deep Canyons Boosts Rural Development in Guizhou

[Guiyang, China, May 29 2026]

Robust 4G, 5G, and 5G-A networks have enabled mountainous villages and ancient towns in Guizhou to overcome geographical and communications barriers. These upgrades have made life more convenient for local residents, stimulated rural economic growth, and enabled local intangible cultural heritage to reach a wider audience, ensuring shared benefits from digitalization for all.

Guizhou is one of China's first national big data pilot regions. To date, China Mobile has built nearly 200,000 base stations in the province, including more than 70,000 5G base stations. Now all of Guizhou's administrative villages and high-speed rail lines are covered by 5G. Special coverage assurance is provided for key urban and rural areas, with gigabit broadband available in all townships.
 
Connecting canyons with 5G-A to stimulate growth in the mountains

Economic and telecom development along the Huajiang Grand Canyon, which looks like a crack in the Earth, have long been constrained by the region's mountainous terrain. Now, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge has eliminated physical barriers, and the integrated communications networks built by Huawei and China Mobile provide a digital bridge for these villages.
 
Working in the steep cliffs of the Huajiang Grand Canyon, Huawei and China Mobile innovatively used drones to deploy four 4G sites, four 5G sites, and 39 cells on the bridge and in its surrounding areas to provide 4G, 5G, and 5G–A connectivity for around 11,000 users. Field tests in hotspot areas like the Yundu Service Area have shown average 5G–A download speeds of up to 1500 Mbps.

Pan Cong, a network engineer at China Mobile Guizhou, said, "For Guizhou's complex mountainous terrain, we used drone-assisted lifting and installation to solve the challenge of building networks over cliffs and canyons where traditional construction methods cannot be applied."
 
Improved transport and network infrastructure is stimulating and transforming the development of villages in the region. Residents of Xiaohuajiang Village now use high-speed networks for e-commerce and homestay businesses. In April 2026, the village had a total of 19 homestays, and its homestay revenue and tourist numbers increased three to fourfold year-on-year.
 
Homestay owner Lin Guoquan said, "Now, more tourists can find out about our village through short videos and livestreaming. And many young people who used to work in other places have returned home to seek careers in the village."

Digital technology helps conserve and promote the intangible cultural heritage of ancient towns

Digital enablement is happening in Guizhou's ancient towns as well. In Tianlong Tunpu Ancient Town, which has a history of more than 600 years, network construction was very difficult in the past due to the town's narrow streets and densely-packed stone buildings. Today, Huawei and China Mobile have used innovative solutions to build nine 4G base stations, eight 5G base stations, and one 5G–A base station to provide seamless network coverage in the town's core areas.
 
With improved connectivity, residents in the town have started selling local products like chili peppers and batik items through livestreaming. This has resulted in a 15% increase in agricultural product sales and a 9% increase in resident income. Dixi Opera, a form of intangible cultural heritage, can now reach a wider audience through livestreaming. Relevant livestreams have already garnered more than 100,000 views. These developments have boosted local cultural tourism. From January to April 2026, the number of visitors to Tianlong Tunpu Ancient Town increased by two to three times year-on-year.

Dixi Opera performer Zheng Ruhong said, "Now, many people across the country know about Dixi Opera from livestreaming. Many young people who used to work in other places have returned home to learn this art. This ensures that this intangible cultural heritage can be preserved and passed down."
 
Working together to promote digital inclusion and bridge the development divide

On May 29, China Mobile and Huawei jointly hosted the TECH Cares Digital and Intelligent Guizhou Roundtable Forum, which brought together representatives from carriers, enterprises, and international organizations. The attendees discussed how digital infrastructure enables rural development, intangible cultural heritage preservation, and sustainable development in the region, and explored new paths for inclusive digital development.
 
Yang Mengmeng from China Mobile Guizhou stated that China Mobile Guizhou set up special teams to overcome the challenges of building networks in mountainous areas to serve local residents in Guizhou. The company has led the construction of a gigabit Guizhou, providing 5G coverage to all administrative villages and dual gigabit connections to all townships.
 
Aleksei Savrasov from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) said, "For a remote enterprise, a signal bar is the difference between a local stall and a global market. Where the signal reaches, the economy follows."
 
Huawei's Zhou Jianguo stated, "While physical bridges shorten distances, digital connections bridge digital gaps. Huawei will continue advancing technological innovation and open collaboration to provide remote areas with equal access to the digital world, so that they can share in the dividends of the digital era."
 
By 2025, Huawei had worked with partners to provide digital connectivity for 170 million people in rural and remote areas in more than 80 countries and regions. Moving forward, Huawei and China Mobile will continue to innovate in rural network technologies and provide digital skills training to help more regions bridge geographical and digital divides. This will allow more people to benefit from the digital and intelligent world.