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With the biggest 5G market and largest 5G mobile network, China is leading 5G development worldwide. Chinese Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) play a significant role in China's 5G development, especially in the current stage of 5G commercialization. In addition, the Chinese government issued China Broadnet a 5G license, which may change the competitive landscape of MNOs. Based on in-depth interviews with experts and secondary data, this study first analyzes Chinese MNOs' competitiveness from three perspectives (i.e., the country-level, industry-level, and company-level). It then offers a summary of the four MNOs' strategies in developing 5G. This study could shed light on China's 5G development through the lens of MNOs and provide policy implications for developing 6G. • Faced with many challenges in the 5G era, Chinese MNOs contribute to developing 5G under the strong influence of government policies. • Competitiveness analysis can facilitate an understanding of the competitive landscape and competitive advantages of Chinese MNOs. • China Mobile takes the lead, China Telecom and China Unicom cooperate closely to challenge it, and China Broadnet, a new entrant, relies on co-sharing and co-building with China Mobile. • Chinese MNOs adopt different strategies such as a long-tail strategy, differentiation strategy and niche market strategy to occupy the 5G market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]