China aims to cultivate 700 million users of Internet Protocol version 6-based services by the end of 2023, according to a plan unveiled by three government bodies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

IPv6 is the most recent version of Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the internet. It allows much higher theoretical limits on the number of IP addresses than the current IPv4 system.

The plan said China aims to build a benign development pattern of advanced IPv6 technology, industry, facilities, applications and security systems by the end of 2023.