China's first 5G smart highway project will launch in Central China's Hubei province, with a plan to select the location of the 5G base station and synchronously carry out smart charging tests already underway, Chinanews.com reported.

There are also plans to test unmanned self-driving cars.

The 5G smart highway project is characterized by its integration with cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other next-generation internet technologies. It aims to achieve a thorough and accurate perception of highways in real time, monitor each road and vehicle and predict how objects will move on the road.

The application of 5G in smart transportation will bring great changes to the revolution of the transportation industry, said Fan Bingheng, general manager of China Mobile Group Hubei Company.

By the end of last year, the company had built 31 5G base stations in the capital city of Wuhan in Hubei.

In addition, the company will invest 1 billion yuan ($148.3 million) in Hubei to build 2,000 5G base stations in 2019.