• Cyberspace Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee and the Cyberspace Administration of China have developed strategies for the widespread adoption of IPv6.
  • China’s decision not to allow any network to use the IPV4 format can be seen as a move to implement a single-stack system across the country.
  • In 2021, the country set up a large-scale testing infrastructure called “Future Internet.” This is a test infrastructure that will test the feasibility of the National Action Plan for implementing IPV6 across the country.

In 2017, China adopted a massive action plan for the future of the Internet, which aims to revolutionize the way the country uses the Internet.There have been many reports on the Internet about China’s massive IPV6 format system overhaul. Many have predicted that China will make this move due to the huge demand for IPV4 addresses and the severe shortage of IPV4 addresses worldwide. In 2017, China adopted a massive action plan for the future of the Internet, which aims to revolutionize the way the country uses the Internet.

China’s Plans to Introduce IPv6

The Cyberspace Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee and the Cyberspace Administration of China have developed strategies for the widespread adoption of IPv6. They took the first step in 2017 with the adoption of the “Future of the Internet” policy, outlining a vision for the future of Internet usage in the country. This policy lays the groundwork for future developments and reforms to the country’s existing networks.

According to the Circular on Accelerating Large-scale Implementation and Adaptation of IPv6 issued on July 23, 2021, China aims to have 800 million active IPv6 users by 2023. Additionally, there are nearly 200 million IoT devices utilising the framework.

Also read: Xiong’an, China’s foremost digital city, embraces IPv6

How Does China Plan to Overhaul the System?

By 2023, home broadband routers will be required to enable and fully support the IPv6 framework as the default model. This protocol is expected to cater to nearly 30 per cent of the country’s total demand.

Many consumer devices will be mandated to include IPv6 by default. Fifty per cent of mobile user traffic will be required to use the new framework, and IPv6 will handle 15 per cent of metro Internet traffic.

To complete the overhaul process, China’s decision not to allow any networks to use the IPv4 format can be seen as a step towards implementing a single-stack system nationwide.

How Will the Vision Be Realised?

To ensure the effectiveness of the single-stack model and manage large amounts of Internet data, there are various collaborations at both the government and private levels. The primary purpose of these collaborations is to test the feasibility of the system. Several test labs with the necessary infrastructure have been established to test these future models. In 2021, the country set up a large-scale testing infrastructure called “Future Internet.” This infrastructure serves as a testing ground to assess the feasibility of the National Action Plan for implementing.