A medical team in Anshun, Guizhou, performs the long-distance surgery on an animal in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/cbdio.com]

A long-distance surgery supported by China Unicom's 5G network was recently performed in Southwest China's Guizhou province, which is the first of its kind in Guizhou.

With the help of a minimally invasive surgical robot developed by a domestic company, a medical team in Xixiu District People's Hospital, Anshun, Guizhou province successfully performed the surgery on an animal 3,000 kilometers away in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, East China's Shandong province.

To guarantee the safety and stability of long-distance surgery, emergencies such as signal interruption and cyber-attacks are taken into consideration during the surgery.

The surgery also combined and switched between China Unicom's various communication networks to meet the requirements of long-distance real-time surgery in order to reduce risks.

China Unicom has advanced experiences in 5G long-distance medical treatment, as they supported the world's first digital medical surgery based on 5G networks in East China's Fujian province last December.