"developing an extreme competitive advantage for...

"developing an extreme competitive advantage for china"
Doubtful.

People spending money to stream 4K video on their phones is not productive for a country, but it might be great for Netflix and co.
The "internet of things" is just more fluff akin to 3D televisions. Connected refrigerators, kettles and home automation systems don't need 5G FR2 to siphon personal information off to datacentres. They are connected to most people's home routers and are designed to buffer data in case of drop-outs.

They are trying to sell 5G hard. The example implementations I've heard about sound like they are scrapping the bottom of a barrel.
e.g.
Remote Surgery: Australian hospitals restrict the use of mobile phones in operating theatres. Since the OT is stationary and so are the surgeon's console, a fibre connection to the robot will do the job while potentially avoiding additional EM interference with ECGs.
Remote physical feedback in vehicles: A gimmick considering that self-driving vehicles are the goal. They think it might be used for robots instead of vehicles, much like an avatar, but that wouldn't be productive in comparison to automation in assembly lines that currently do not need 5G and would not benefit from it.
Self-driving vehicles: The fastest and most efficient approach is on-board processing and decentralised networking. Contacting HQ for traffic conditions does not need 5G FR2. Requiring 5G FR2 is just another way to create vendor lock-in. Also, on-board processing would allow a vehicle to operate in no-signal areas.

Transmitting 4K footage real-time from drones may be the only advantage, assuming that real-time footage at that 4K definition is actually required for HQ to take immediate actions. If the drones are used for automating farming or surveying conditions then 4G can already meet those needs. In any case 4K drones appear to be a niche that does not justify an entire roll out.

Overall, my stance on 5G is that it's another product pushed out in the grand tradition of planned obsolesce and pushing products that don't solve problems. It reminds me of the times before the GFC when SLI graphics were being spruiked. They went further with Quad SLI once they saw consumers lap it up. Good times sure heralds in useless stuff that people buy until bad times bring everyone back down to reality.