3GPP is finalizing Release 17 and starting to work on the second phase of 5G, which is officially named as 5G Advanced. The goal of 5G Advanced is to extend the 5G framework to support more scenarios and use cases, in particular for IoTs and vertical applications. Communications for automation and intelligence in vertical domains come with demanding and diverse requirements with respect to latency, data rates, availability, reliability, and in some cases, high-accuracy positioning. The vertical industries that will reap the benefits of this new level of automation will range from railways, buildings, manufacturing, healthcare, smart cities, electrical power supply and special events. Integrated with AI, Big Data, IoT, and other key technologies, 5G Advanced will empower traditional industries one step further than 5G. The talk will demonstrate the latest status of 5G empowered vertical applications and provide insight on how 5G Advanced will digitalize and modernize traditional industries to raise the efficiency. AI, industrial IoT, ubiquitous networks, blockchains, edge computing and network slicing are the key technologies which will be elaborated in this talk. In the conclusion of this talk, evolving trends of 5G Advanced to better boost a smart society and better support verticals will also be outlined.