China’s cellular M2M and IoT connectivity market will expand steadily over the coming half-decade, with subscriptions projected to see a CAGR of 7% between 2025 and 2030.

According to data and analytics company GlobalData, this will be driven by emerging use cases across various industry segments, 5G infrastructure developments by telcos, and their comprehensive M2M and IoT service offerings.

GlobalData’s China Mobile Broadband Forecast (Q3-2025) reveals that the share of M2M and IoT subscriptions of total mobile subscriptions in the country will reach about 30% by 2030, indicating its growing adoption and increasing prominence as a revenue generating segment for telcos.

A large manufacturing base and widespread digitalisation in the manufacturing sector, along with a growing number of digital factories that demand a high level of automation and connectivity for real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance of machines, will continue to favour growth in the M2M and IoT market.

Hrushikesh Mahananda, telecom analyst at GlobalData, said: “Expanding use cases beyond the manufacturing sector, particularly smart grid and smart metering applications in the utilities sector; vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure applications in the automotive and transportation sector; patient monitoring and connected devices in the healthcare sector; and, most importantly in smart city projects for smart buildings, smart traffic control and public safety systems, also augur well for the market.”

Government support for integration of M2M and IoT in the manufacturing sector, smart cities and public infrastructure projects as a part of its national initiatives such as “Made in China 2025” and “China 2035” underscores the growing importance of this technology in the country.

Robust 5G infrastructure and developments in 5G-Advanced that enable massive IoT deployments, supporting tens of billions of low-power devices, improving reliability and securing connectivity for industrial IoT applications, will also favour M2M and IoT expansion in the country. China’s telecom regulator MIIT (www.miit.gov.cn), for instance, aims to build more than 10,000 5G factories during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period to encourage industrial applications of 5G, particularly in manufacturing.

“Given the growing prominence of M2M and IoT, China’s leading mobile operators have designed comprehensive offerings that are driving growth in M2M and IoT connectivity subscriptions,” said Mahananda. “Operators have also developed advanced M2M and IoT platforms that simplify deployment, integration and enablement of end-to-end M2M and IoT ecosystems across industries, combining not just connectivity but also device management, edge and AI capabilities.”