Nov 28, 2017 02:41 PM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Within 10 years, China has decided to build the world's largest IPv6 network, the next generation Internet address system.

IPv6 is an abbreviation of 'Internet Protocol (IP) version 6', a new IP address scheme developed to improve the disadvantages of IPv4 currently used.

According to Xinhua News Agency on December 28, the State Council has recently set up an action plan for IPv6 expansion and plans to expand IPv6, which is used for experimental and research purposes, to the world's largest within five to 10 years.

Through this, we set the goal of establishing China's own next-generation Internet technology system and industrial ecosystem, and integrating them in various economic and social spheres, thereby taking the lead in developing the global Internet industry.

The plan is to increase the number of IPv6-enabled handsets in China to 200 million by the end of next year, occupying more than 20% of the total IP address, and then fostering 50% of the total IP by 2020.

As a result, China's three major IT producers, BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), should complete IPv6 upgrades by the end of next year. In addition, since 2020, the IPv4 system will no longer be available for newly added IP addresses.

China has set the goal of achieving the world's leading Internet technology industry by making IPv6 the largest use of IPv6 in the world by the end of 2025, enabling networks, applications and terminals to fully support IPv6.

The reason why China is so active in IPv6 is that the demand for IP address is soaring due to the development of industrial technologies such as Internet Plus, Internet (IoT) and smart factory.

By 2020, more than 30 billion facilities are required worldwide, and the demand for IP addresses in China is expected to exceed 10 billion.
According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), 751 million Internet users in China have only 338 million IPv4 addresses, and only 0.45 IP addresses are given per person.

It is China's perception that this is undermining opportunities for potential growth in the IT industry.

IPv4, which has a 32-bit address length, is available with 4.3 billion addresses, while 128-bit IPv6 allows an infinite number of address assignments, allowing independent IP addresses to be assigned to all terminals requiring a network connection.

China is paying attention not only to the economic benefits of IPv6 adoption but also to the realization of IP address realignment. China expects it will be the basis for strengthening cyber security control by realizing Internet real-name system through infinite expansion of IP address system.

"In terms of national security, true real-name system can be realized after the introduction of IPv6," said Weir Lapping, chief of the China Telecommunication Science and Technology Committee. "This will provide a reliable guarantee check on China's Internet security management" said.

This is why China was early to launch IPv6 experimentation and application, and to hasten technology research, network construction, and application innovation. 

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