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(Redirected from Communications in China)
:''This article is about Communications in mainland China only.''
:''For Hong Kong and Macau, see Communications in Hong Kong and Communications in Macau.''
:''For the Republic of China (Taiwan), see Communications in the Republic of China.''
'Communications in China' were established rapidly in the early 1950s. By 1952 the principal telecommunications network centered on Beijing, and links to all large cities had been established. From 1956 telecommunications routes were extended more rapidly. To increase the efficiency of the communication system, the same lines are used for both telegraphic and telephone service, while Teletype and television services also have been added. By 1963 telephone wire had been laid from Beijing to the capitals of all provinces, autonomous regions, and large cities, while capitals of all [provinces and autonomous regions were connected to the administrative seats of the counties and smaller municipalities and to larger market towns.
Immediately following 1949, telecommunications — by telegraph or telephone — mainly used wire; by the 1970s, however, radio telecommunications were increasingly used. Microwave and satellite transmissions have now become common. In 1956 the first automatic speed Teletype was installed on the Beijing-Lhasa line. By 1964 such machines had been installed in most of China's major cities. Radio-television service also was installed in major cities, and radio teleprinters became widely used. Overall, China's telecommunications services improved enormously after 1980 and were further enhanced with the acquisition of Hong Kong's highly advanced systems.
:''See: Telecommunications industry in China''
The primary regulator of communications, in particular telecommunications, in China is the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). It closely regulates all of the industries outlined below with the exception of the radio and television sectors, which belong to the remit of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television.

Contents

Telephone

Radio

Television

Internet

References

See also

External links

Telephone

★ Telephones - main lines in use: 370 million (March 2007)^[1]

★ Telephones - mobile cellular: 480 million (March 2007)^[1]

★ Telephone country code: 86 (see ''China telephone numbering plan'')
China imported its first mobile phone telecommunication facilities in 1987 and it took a decade for the number of subscribers to reach 10 million. Four years later, in 2001, the country had the largest number of mobile phone subscribers in the world.
Domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use. But an unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns. China continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand its global reach; 3 of China's 6 major telecommunications operators are part of an international consortium which, in December 2006, signed an agreement with Verizon Business to build the first next-generation optical cable system directly linking the United States and China.
On December 2005, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), its combined main lines and mobile lines exceeded 743 million.
By the end of August 2006, statistics from the Ministry of Information Industry showed that there were more than 437 million mobile phone users in the Chinese mainland, or 327 mobile phones per 1,000 population.
From January to August 2006, mobile phone users on the mainland sent 273.67 million text messages.^[3]
On average, China's mobile subscribers increased by 4.78 million each month.
Domestic interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed.
A domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place.
International satellite earth stations include 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions).
Several international fiber-optic links include those to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany.
Fixed and mobile operators in China include China Mobile, China Netcom, China TieTong, China Satcom, China Telecom and China Unicom.

Radio

★ Radio broadcast stations: AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)

★ Radios: 428 million (2000)

Television

:''See: List of Chinese language television channels''

★ Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)

★ Televisions: 459.74 million (2002)

Internet

:''Main article: Internet in the People's Republic of China''

★ Internet country code: .cn

★ Internet hosts: 232,780 (2006)

★ Internet service providers (ISP): 3 (2000)

★ Internet users: 162 million (June 2007)^[4]
China's number of Internet users or netizens topped 137 million by the end of 2006,^[5] an increase of 23.4% from a year before and 162 million by June 2007, making China the second largest Internet user after the United States, according to China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII).
As of 2004, the largest concentration of Internet users were from Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong and Hubei provinces. Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin also had a high concentration of Internet users, with 28% of Beijing's population having access to the Internet. Also, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), by June 2006, China's broadband users had reached 77 million or about two-thirds of the total online population, up 45% from a year ago. By June 2007 China's broadband users had reached 122 million. The number of websites had also risen by more than 110,000 to a total of 788,400.
There exists a wide gap between Internet use in cities and rural areas, as statistics show. The national average internet penetration rate is still just 12.3%. There were 19.31 million netizens in the rural areas, making up only 2.6 percent of the rural population and around 91.69 million netizens living in the urban areas, making up 16.9 percent of the urban population, according to the CNNIC. The CNNIC survey showed 82.3 per cent of people using the Internet in China were below 35 years old and almost 40 per cent of the netizens were aged 18 to 24. QQ is the most popular form of instant messaging on the Internet in China.

References

1. http://www.chinadaily.net/china/2007-05/04/content_865617.htm
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/china/2007-05/04/content_865617.htm
3. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/07/content_5172866.htm
4. http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm#cn
5. http://www.chinadaily.net/china/2007-01/24/content_790804.htm

See also

★ Media in the People's Republic of China

★ Communications in the Republic of China

External links

★ Ministry of Information Industry at gov.cn