Communications in the People's Republic of China
Encyclopedia
The People's Republic of China
possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. None of the telecommunications forms are as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern Western countries, but the system includes some of the most sophisticated technology in the world and constitutes a foundation for further development of a modern network.
and Republican
ITA
and Ministry of Posts and Communications
had been seriously damaged from over thirty years of on and off war between warlords
, Japan
, and the two sides of the Chinese Civil War
. What little remained was largely outdated and rudimentary and limited to the eastern coastal cities, the Nanjing
-Shanghai
region, and a few interior cities. In the 1950s existing facilities were repaired, and, with Soviet assistance
, considerable progress was made toward establishing a long-distance telephone
wire
network connecting Beijing to provincial-level capitals.
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 finally been established. Work quickly got under way to repair, renovate and expand the system, and from 1956 telecommunications routes were extended more rapidly. To increase the efficiency of the communications system
, the same lines were used for both telegraphic and telephone
service, while Teletype and television
(broadcasting
) services were also added.
In addition, conference telephone service was initiated, radio communications were improved, and the production of telecommunications equipment was accelerated. Growth in telecommunications halted with the general economic collapse after the Great Leap Forward
(1958–60) but revived in the 1960s after the telephone network was expanded and improved equipment was introduced, including imports of Western plants and equipment.
By 1963 telephone wire had been laid from Beijing to the capitals of all provinces, autonomous regions
, and large cities, while in turn, provincial capitals and autonomous regions were connected to the administrative seats of the counties, smaller municipalities and larger market town
s.
In the years immediately following 1949, telecommunications — by telegraph or telephone
— mainly used wire
; by the 1970s, however, radio
telecommunications equipment were increasingly used and began to replace wire lines. Microwave
and satellite
transmissions were soon introduced and have now become common. (China launched its first television-broadcast satellite in 1986.) 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.
An important component of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1971–75) was a major development program for the telecommunications system. The program allotted top priority to scarce electronics
and construction
resources and dramatically improved all aspects of China's telecommunications capabilities.
Microwave radio relay lines and buried cable lines were constructed to create a network of wideband
carrier trunk lines, which covered the entire country. China was linked to the international telecommunications network by the installation of communications satellite
ground stations and the construction of coaxial
cables linking Guangdong
Province with Hong Kong
and Macau
. Provincial-level units and municipalities rapidly expanded local telephone and wire broadcasting networks. Expansion and modernization of the telecommunications system continued throughout the late-1970s and early 1980s, giving particular emphasis to the production of radio and television sets and expanded broadcasting
capabilities.
Marked improvements occurred by the mid-1980s with an influx of foreign technology and increased domestic production capabilities. International and long-distance telephone links by cable and satellite of high quality multiplied. Telegraph, facsimile, and telex were all in use. International satellite ground stations in Beijing and Shanghai were built and a domestic satellite communication network was operational in 1986. Over 160 radio stations existed by the mid-1980s, and transistorized radio receivers were common. A vast wired broadcasting system included over 2,600 stations carrying radio transmissions into all rural units and many urban areas. The television system grew rapidly in 1980s, with 90 television stations and 80 million sets by 1987.
By 1987 China possessed a diversified telecommunications system that linked all parts of the country by telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. None of the telecommunications forms were as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern Western countries, but the system included some of the most sophisticated technology in the world and constituted a foundation for further development of a modern network.
Overall, China's telecommunications services improved enormously during the 1980s, and, the pace of telecommunications growth and technology upgrading increased even more rapidly after 1990, especially as fiber-optics systems and digital technology were installed. After 1997, China's telecommunications services were enhanced further with the acquisition of Hong Kong
's highly advanced systems. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, foreign investment in the country's telecommunications sector further encouraged growth. Notable has been the tremendous increase in Internet and cellular phone usage. China became the world leader in the early 21st century, in terms of number of cell phone subscribers. The nation ranks first in the world in numbers of both mobile and fixed-line telephones, and first in the number of internet users.
Despite these advances, China's telecommunications infrastructure has not been able to keep up with demand and has not spread to the relatively poorer regions. A large proportion of the country's population still has little or no access even to basic telephone and Internet service. Although the number of cellular phones has grown enormously, surpassing that for standard (i.e., landline
) telephones in 2003, the overall ratio of phones per capita has nonetheless remained much smaller than it is for the developed countries.
China is the largest user of largest Voice calling over the Internet or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services with 51 million Tom
-Skype
users as of November 2007.
s, some of which were handled by electronic means, the ministry was involved in a wide spectrum of telephone, wire, telegraph, and international communications (see Postage stamps and postal history of the People's Republic of China
). The Ministry of Radio and Television was established as a separate entity in 1982 to administer and upgrade the status of television and radio broadcasting. Subordinate to this ministry were the Central People's Broadcasting Station, Radio Beijing, and China Central Television. Additionally, the various broadcasting training, talent-search, research, publishing, and manufacturing organizations were brought under the control of the Ministry of Radio and Television. In 1986 responsibility for the movie industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the new Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television.
As of 1987 the quality of telecommunications services in China had improved markedly over earlier years. A considerable influx of foreign technology and increased domestic production capabilities had a major impact in the post-Mao period.
The primary form of telecommunications in the 1980s was local and long-distance telephone service administered by six regional bureaus: Beijing
(north region), Shanghai
(east region), Xi'an
(northwest region), Chengdu
(southwest region), Wuhan
(centralsouth region), and Shenyang
(northeast region). These regional headquarters served as switching
centers for provincial-level subsystems. By 1986 China had nearly 3 million telephone exchange lines, including 34,000 long-distance exchange lines with direct, automatic service to 24 cities. By late 1986 fiber optic communications technology was being employed to relieve the strain on existing telephone circuits. International service was routed through overseas exchanges located in Beijing and Shanghai. Guangdong
Province had coaxial cable and microwave lines linking it to Hong Kong
and Macau
.
The large, continuously upgraded satellite ground stations, originally installed in 1972 to provide live coverage of the visits to China by U.S. president Richard M. Nixon and Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka
, still served as the base for China's international satellite communications network in the mid-1980s. By 1977 China had joined Intelsat and, using ground stations in Beijing and Shanghai, had linked up with satellites over the Indian
and Pacific
oceans.
In April 1984 China launched an experimental communications satellite
for trial transmission of broadcast
s, telegrams, telephone call
s, and facsimile, probably to remote areas of the country. In February 1986 China launched its first fully operational telecommunications and broadcast satellite. The quality and communications capacity of the second satellite reportedly was much greater than the first. In mid-1987 both satellites were still functioning. With these satellites in place China's domestic satellite communication network went into operation, facilitating television and radio transmissions and providing direct-dial longdistance telephone, telegraph, and facsimile service. The network had ground stations in Beijing
, Urumqi
, Hohhot
, Lhasa
, and Guangzhou
, which also were linked to an Intelsat
satellite over the Indian Ocean.
Telegraph development received lower priority than the telephone network largely because of the difficulties involved in transmitting the written Chinese language. Computer technology gradually alleviated these problems and facilitated further growth in this area. By 1983 China had nearly 10,000 telegraph cables and telex
lines transmitting over 170 million messages annually. Most telegrams were transmitted by cables or by shortwave radio. Cutmicrowave transmission also was used. Teletype transmission was used for messages at the international level, but some 40 percent of county and municipal telegrams were transmitted by Morse code
.
Apart from traditional telegraph and telephone services, China also had facsimile, low-speed data-transmission, and computer-controlled telecommunications services. These included on-line information retrieval terminals in Beijing, Changsha, and Baotou
that enabled international telecommunications networks to retrieve news and scientific, technical, economic, and cultural information from international sources.
High-speed newspaper-page-facsimile equipment and Chinese character
- code translation equipment were used on a large scale. Sixty-four-channel program-controlled automatic message retransmission equipment and low- or medium-speed data transmission and exchange equipment also received extensive use. International telex service was available in coastal cities and special economic zones.
The Central People's Broadcasting Station controlled China's national radio network. Programming was administered by the provincial-level units. The station produced general news and cultural and educational programs. It also provided programs directed toward Taiwan
and overseas Chinese
listeners. Radio Beijing broadcast to the world in thirty-eight foreign language
s, putonghua, and various dialects, including Amoy
, Cantonese
, and Hakka. It also provided English-language news programs aimed at foreign residents in Beijing. Medium-wave, shortwave, and FM stations reached 80 percent of the country — over 160 radio stations and 500 relay and transmission stations — with some 240 radio programs.
The nationwide network of wire lines and loudspeakers transmitted radio programs into virtually all rural communities and many urban areas. By 1984 there were over 2,600 wired broadcasting stations, extending radio transmissions to rural areas outside the range of regular broadcasting stations.
In 1987 China Central Television
(CCTV), the state network, managed China's television programs. In 1985 consumers purchased 15 million new sets, including approximately 4 million color sets. Production fell far short of demand. Because Chinese viewers often gathered in large groups to watch publicly owned sets, authorities estimated that two-thirds of the nation had access to television. In 1987 there were about 70 million television sets, an average of 29 sets per 100 families. CCTV had four channels that supplied programs to the over ninety television stations throughout the country. Construction began on a major new CCTV studio in Beijing in 1985. CCTV produced its own programs, a large portion of which were educational, and the Television University in Beijing produced three educational programs weekly. The English-language lesson was the most popular program and had an estimated 5 to 6 million viewers. Other programs included daily news, entertainment, teleplays, and special programs. Foreign programs included films and cartoons. Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama (see Culture of the People's Republic of China
).
By Sep 2009, there were over 650 million active mobile phone subscribers in the China. See List of mobile network operators
Internet use also has soared in China from about 60,000 Internet users in 1995 to 22.5 million users in 2000; by 2005 the number had reached 103 million. Although this figure is well below the 159 million users in the United States and although fairly low per capita, it was second in the world and on a par with Japan
’s 57 million users.
By the June of 2010, China had 420 million internet users. Incidentally, this is greater than the population of the USA, however penetration rate is still relatively low at just under 32%. See Internet in the People's Republic of China
China’s 2.7 million kilometers of optical fiber
telecommunication
cables by 2003 assisted greatly in the modernization
process. China produces an increasing volume of televisions both for domestic use and export, which has helped to spread communications development. In 2001 China produced more than 46 million televisions and claimed 317 million sets in use. At the same time, there were 417 million radios in use in China, a rate of 342 per 1,000 population. However, many more are reached, especially in rural areas, via loudspeaker
broadcasts of radio
programs that bring transmissions to large numbers of radioless households.
.
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. The combined main lines and mobile lines is expected to hit 976 million by 2008.
From January to August 2006, mobile phone users on the mainland sent 273.67 million text messages
.
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
.
China's number of Internet users or netizens topped 137 million by the end of 2006, 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). The latest figure (December 2009) have China's internet users exceeding 384 million making it the largest internet user in the world.
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.
As of December 31, 2005, there were an estimated 37,504,000 broadband lines in China. It represented nearly a world share of 18%. Over 70% of the broadband
lines were via DSL and the rest via cable modem
s.
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.
As of 2007, ITU data puts China's broadband speed at 1Mbit/s. China is fast becoming the world's largest broadband economy. It is laying quite a lot of fiber which is a less disruptive option in China because of the amount of new building work being done. It has 14 million fiber lines, compared to 9.6 million in Japan, 1.7m in the US and just a few thousand in the UK but it does not generate the same speeds as in other Asian countries because the fiber tends to feed into apartment blocks rather than individual homes.
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 31.8% (June 2010). At the end of June 2007 there were 37.41 million netizens in the rural areas, making up only 5.1 percent of the rural population and around 125 million netizens living in the urban area
s, making up 21.6 percent of the urban population, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
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.
Chinese mobile phone users access the Internet mainly via WAP (Wireless Application Protocol
). Numbers of active WAP users and WAP sites with independent domain name
s amounted to 39 million and 65,000 respectively by March 2007.
It is expected that in 2008 there will be 230 million WAP users in China with a total market valued at RMB 22 billion.
with China with a fiber-optic cable that is designed to meet increasing internet traffic between the regions, with 60 times more capacity than existing cables. It is to be the first undersea or submarine telecommunications cable that directly links the US with China and the first independent trans-Pacific connection. Current cable links between China and the US run through Japan
.
The project includes US Verizon Communications
, Chinese firms China Telecom
, China Netcom
and China Unicom
, South Korea's Korea Telecom
and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom
. The project was initiated in December 2006. Work began in mid-October 2007 in Qingdao
. It is scheduled to be completed by July 2008 (before the Beijing Olympics).
Earthquake
hotspots have been avoided in the planned route of the cable to avoid potential disruption to internet and telephone networks in Asia. The cable will extend more than 18,000 km and will cost about $500m. It will terminate in Nedonna Beach, Oregon
with connections to Taiwan
and South Korea
. When complete, the new cable will be able to support the equivalent of 62 million simultaneous phone calls, with the design capacity to support future internet growth and advanced applications such as video and e-commerce.
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. None of the telecommunications forms are as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern Western countries, but the system includes some of the most sophisticated technology in the world and constitutes a foundation for further development of a modern network.
History
When the People's Republic was founded in 1949, the telecommunications systems and facilities in China first established by the QingQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
and Republican
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
ITA
Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration
The Imperial Telegraph Administration or Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration was a Qing-era government-controlled corporation The Imperial Telegraph Administration (ITA) or Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration (ICTA) was a Qing-era government-controlled corporation The Imperial...
and Ministry of Posts and Communications
Ministry of Posts and Communications
The Ministry of Posts and Communications or Youchuanbu was a Qing and Republican Chinese ministry responsible for mail and telecommunications and for the Chinese rail network....
had been seriously damaged from over thirty years of on and off war between warlords
Warlord era
The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...
, Japan
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, and the two sides of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
. What little remained was largely outdated and rudimentary and limited to the eastern coastal cities, the Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
-Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
region, and a few interior cities. In the 1950s existing facilities were repaired, and, with Soviet assistance
Sino-Soviet relations
Sino-Soviet relations refers to the diplomatic relationship between China and the various forms of Soviet Power which emerged from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist.-Russian Civil War and Mongolia:...
, considerable progress was made toward establishing a long-distance telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
network connecting Beijing to provincial-level capitals.
Communications in China were established rapidly in the early 1950s. By 1952 the principal telecommunications network centered on Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, and links to all large cities had finally been established. Work quickly got under way to repair, renovate and expand the system, and from 1956 telecommunications routes were extended more rapidly. To increase the efficiency of the communications system
Communications system
In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole...
, the same lines were used for both telegraphic and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service, while Teletype and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
(broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
) services were also added.
In addition, conference telephone service was initiated, radio communications were improved, and the production of telecommunications equipment was accelerated. Growth in telecommunications halted with the general economic collapse after the Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
(1958–60) but revived in the 1960s after the telephone network was expanded and improved equipment was introduced, including imports of Western plants and equipment.
By 1963 telephone wire had been laid from Beijing to the capitals of all provinces, autonomous regions
Autonomous areas of China
In a similar fashion to the former Soviet Union's titular nations, a number of areas associated with one or more ethnic minorities are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China . These areas are recognized in the PRC's constitution and are nominally given a number of rights not...
, and large cities, while in turn, provincial capitals and autonomous regions were connected to the administrative seats of the counties, smaller municipalities and larger market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
s.
In the years immediately following 1949, telecommunications — by telegraph or telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
— mainly used wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
; by the 1970s, however, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
telecommunications equipment were increasingly used and began to replace wire lines. Microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
and satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
transmissions were soon introduced and have now become common. (China launched its first television-broadcast satellite in 1986.) In 1956 the first automatic speed Teletype was installed on the Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
-Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
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.
An important component of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1971–75) was a major development program for the telecommunications system. The program allotted top priority to scarce electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
and construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
resources and dramatically improved all aspects of China's telecommunications capabilities.
Microwave radio relay lines and buried cable lines were constructed to create a network of wideband
Wideband
In communications, wideband is a relative term used to describe a wide range of frequencies in a spectrum. A system is typically described as wideband if the message bandwidth significantly exceeds the channel's coherence bandwidth....
carrier trunk lines, which covered the entire country. China was linked to the international telecommunications network by the installation of communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
ground stations and the construction of coaxial
Coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that two or more forms share a common axis; it is the three-dimensional linear analogue of concentric.Coaxial cable, as a common example, has a wire conductor in the centre a circumferential outer conductor and an insulating medium called the dielectric separating...
cables linking Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province with Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
. Provincial-level units and municipalities rapidly expanded local telephone and wire broadcasting networks. Expansion and modernization of the telecommunications system continued throughout the late-1970s and early 1980s, giving particular emphasis to the production of radio and television sets and expanded broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
capabilities.
Marked improvements occurred by the mid-1980s with an influx of foreign technology and increased domestic production capabilities. International and long-distance telephone links by cable and satellite of high quality multiplied. Telegraph, facsimile, and telex were all in use. International satellite ground stations in Beijing and Shanghai were built and a domestic satellite communication network was operational in 1986. Over 160 radio stations existed by the mid-1980s, and transistorized radio receivers were common. A vast wired broadcasting system included over 2,600 stations carrying radio transmissions into all rural units and many urban areas. The television system grew rapidly in 1980s, with 90 television stations and 80 million sets by 1987.
By 1987 China possessed a diversified telecommunications system that linked all parts of the country by telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. None of the telecommunications forms were as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern Western countries, but the system included some of the most sophisticated technology in the world and constituted a foundation for further development of a modern network.
Overall, China's telecommunications services improved enormously during the 1980s, and, the pace of telecommunications growth and technology upgrading increased even more rapidly after 1990, especially as fiber-optics systems and digital technology were installed. After 1997, China's telecommunications services were enhanced further with the acquisition of Hong Kong
Communications in Hong Kong
A wide-ranging and sophisticated communications network has developed in Hong Kong, reflecting its thriving commerce and international importance....
's highly advanced systems. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, foreign investment in the country's telecommunications sector further encouraged growth. Notable has been the tremendous increase in Internet and cellular phone usage. China became the world leader in the early 21st century, in terms of number of cell phone subscribers. The nation ranks first in the world in numbers of both mobile and fixed-line telephones, and first in the number of internet users.
Despite these advances, China's telecommunications infrastructure has not been able to keep up with demand and has not spread to the relatively poorer regions. A large proportion of the country's population still has little or no access even to basic telephone and Internet service. Although the number of cellular phones has grown enormously, surpassing that for standard (i.e., landline
Landline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
) telephones in 2003, the overall ratio of phones per capita has nonetheless remained much smaller than it is for the developed countries.
China is the largest user of largest Voice calling over the Internet or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services with 51 million Tom
TOM Online
TOM Online is a mobile Internet company in China, operating the popular Chinese-language Internet portal and offering a variety of online and mobile services, including wireless internet and online advertising. The TOM Group is the majority shareholder...
-Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
users as of November 2007.
History of telecommunications services
In 1987 the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now the Ministry of Information Industry) administered China's telecommunications systems and related research and production facilities. Besides postal serviceMail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
s, some of which were handled by electronic means, the ministry was involved in a wide spectrum of telephone, wire, telegraph, and international communications (see Postage stamps and postal history of the People's Republic of China
Postage stamps and postal history of the People's Republic of China
Although postal service in China goes back some 2,500 years, modern postal services were not established until 1877 by the Qing government. The postal system of the People's Republic of China was established as the General Postal Administration in Beijing in 1949, growing out of the posts that had...
). The Ministry of Radio and Television was established as a separate entity in 1982 to administer and upgrade the status of television and radio broadcasting. Subordinate to this ministry were the Central People's Broadcasting Station, Radio Beijing, and China Central Television. Additionally, the various broadcasting training, talent-search, research, publishing, and manufacturing organizations were brought under the control of the Ministry of Radio and Television. In 1986 responsibility for the movie industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the new Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television.
As of 1987 the quality of telecommunications services in China had improved markedly over earlier years. A considerable influx of foreign technology and increased domestic production capabilities had a major impact in the post-Mao period.
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(north region), Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
(east region), Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
(northwest region), Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
(southwest region), Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
(centralsouth region), and Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
(northeast region). These regional headquarters served as switching
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
centers for provincial-level subsystems. By 1986 China had nearly 3 million telephone exchange lines, including 34,000 long-distance exchange lines with direct, automatic service to 24 cities. By late 1986 fiber optic communications technology was being employed to relieve the strain on existing telephone circuits. International service was routed through overseas exchanges located in Beijing and Shanghai. Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province had coaxial cable and microwave lines linking it to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
.
The large, continuously upgraded satellite ground stations, originally installed in 1972 to provide live coverage of the visits to China by U.S. president Richard M. Nixon and Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician and the 64th and 65th Prime Minister of Japan from 7 July 1972 to 22 December 1972 and from 22 December 1972 to 9 December 1974 respectively...
, still served as the base for China's international satellite communications network in the mid-1980s. By 1977 China had joined Intelsat and, using ground stations in Beijing and Shanghai, had linked up with satellites over the Indian
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
oceans.
In April 1984 China launched an experimental communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
for trial transmission of broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
s, telegrams, telephone call
Telephone call
A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party.-Information transmission:A telephone call may carry ordinary voice transmission using a telephone, data transmission when the calling party and called party are using modems, or facsimile...
s, and facsimile, probably to remote areas of the country. In February 1986 China launched its first fully operational telecommunications and broadcast satellite. The quality and communications capacity of the second satellite reportedly was much greater than the first. In mid-1987 both satellites were still functioning. With these satellites in place China's domestic satellite communication network went into operation, facilitating television and radio transmissions and providing direct-dial longdistance telephone, telegraph, and facsimile service. The network had ground stations in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Urumqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
, Hohhot
Hohhot
Hohhot , is a city in north-central China and the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, serving as the region's administrative, economic, and cultural centre....
, Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
, and Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, which also were linked to an Intelsat
Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
satellite over the Indian Ocean.
Telegraph development received lower priority than the telephone network largely because of the difficulties involved in transmitting the written Chinese language. Computer technology gradually alleviated these problems and facilitated further growth in this area. By 1983 China had nearly 10,000 telegraph cables and telex
Telex
Telex may refer to:* Telex , , a communications network** Teleprinter, the device used on the above network* Telex , a Belgian pop group...
lines transmitting over 170 million messages annually. Most telegrams were transmitted by cables or by shortwave radio. Cutmicrowave transmission also was used. Teletype transmission was used for messages at the international level, but some 40 percent of county and municipal telegrams were transmitted by Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
.
Apart from traditional telegraph and telephone services, China also had facsimile, low-speed data-transmission, and computer-controlled telecommunications services. These included on-line information retrieval terminals in Beijing, Changsha, and Baotou
Baotou
Baotou is a mid-sized industrial city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, its urban areas are home to a population of approximately 1.78 million, with a total population of over 2.65 million accounting for counties under...
that enabled international telecommunications networks to retrieve news and scientific, technical, economic, and cultural information from international sources.
High-speed newspaper-page-facsimile equipment and Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
- code translation equipment were used on a large scale. Sixty-four-channel program-controlled automatic message retransmission equipment and low- or medium-speed data transmission and exchange equipment also received extensive use. International telex service was available in coastal cities and special economic zones.
The Central People's Broadcasting Station controlled China's national radio network. Programming was administered by the provincial-level units. The station produced general news and cultural and educational programs. It also provided programs directed toward Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
listeners. Radio Beijing broadcast to the world in thirty-eight foreign language
Foreign language
A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
s, putonghua, and various dialects, including Amoy
Amoy
Xiamen, or Amoy, is a city on the southeast coast of China.Amoy may also refer to:*Amoy dialect, a dialect of the Hokkien lects, which are part of the Southern Min group of Chinese languages...
, Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, and Hakka. It also provided English-language news programs aimed at foreign residents in Beijing. Medium-wave, shortwave, and FM stations reached 80 percent of the country — over 160 radio stations and 500 relay and transmission stations — with some 240 radio programs.
The nationwide network of wire lines and loudspeakers transmitted radio programs into virtually all rural communities and many urban areas. By 1984 there were over 2,600 wired broadcasting stations, extending radio transmissions to rural areas outside the range of regular broadcasting stations.
In 1987 China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
(CCTV), the state network, managed China's television programs. In 1985 consumers purchased 15 million new sets, including approximately 4 million color sets. Production fell far short of demand. Because Chinese viewers often gathered in large groups to watch publicly owned sets, authorities estimated that two-thirds of the nation had access to television. In 1987 there were about 70 million television sets, an average of 29 sets per 100 families. CCTV had four channels that supplied programs to the over ninety television stations throughout the country. Construction began on a major new CCTV studio in Beijing in 1985. CCTV produced its own programs, a large portion of which were educational, and the Television University in Beijing produced three educational programs weekly. The English-language lesson was the most popular program and had an estimated 5 to 6 million viewers. Other programs included daily news, entertainment, teleplays, and special programs. Foreign programs included films and cartoons. Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama (see Culture of the People's Republic of China
Culture of the People's Republic of China
The culture of the People's Republic of China is a rich and varied blend of traditional Chinese culture with communist and other international modern and post-modern influences. During the Cultural Revolution, an enormous number of cultural treasures of inestimable value were seriously damaged or...
).
Recent development
The MII reported in 2004 that China had 295 million subscribers to main telephone lines and 305 million cellular telephone subscribers, the highest numbers in both categories. Both categories showed substantial increases over the previous decade; in 1995 there were only 3.6 million cellular telephone subscribers and around 20 million main-line telephone subscribers. By 2003 there were 42 telephones per 100 population.By Sep 2009, there were over 650 million active mobile phone subscribers in the China. See List of mobile network operators
Internet use also has soared in China from about 60,000 Internet users in 1995 to 22.5 million users in 2000; by 2005 the number had reached 103 million. Although this figure is well below the 159 million users in the United States and although fairly low per capita, it was second in the world and on a par with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
’s 57 million users.
By the June of 2010, China had 420 million internet users. Incidentally, this is greater than the population of the USA, however penetration rate is still relatively low at just under 32%. See Internet in the People's Republic of China
Internet in the People's Republic of China
The first connection of the mainland of the People's Republic of China with the Internet was established on between ICA Beijing and Karlsruhe University in Germany, under the leadership of Prof. Werner Zorn and Prof. Wang Yunfeng. Since then the Internet in China has grown to host the largest base...
China’s 2.7 million kilometers of optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
cables by 2003 assisted greatly in the modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
process. China produces an increasing volume of televisions both for domestic use and export, which has helped to spread communications development. In 2001 China produced more than 46 million televisions and claimed 317 million sets in use. At the same time, there were 417 million radios in use in China, a rate of 342 per 1,000 population. However, many more are reached, especially in rural areas, via loudspeaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
broadcasts of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
programs that bring transmissions to large numbers of radioless households.
Regulation
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 TelevisionState Administration of Radio, Film, and Television
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television is an executive branch under the State Council of the People's Republic of China...
.
Telephone
- See: Telecommunications industry in ChinaTelecommunications industry in ChinaThe telecommunications industry in China is dominated by three state-run businesses: China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. The three companies were formed by a recent revolution and restructuring launched in May 2008, directed by Ministry of Information Industry , Nationals Development and...
- Telephones - main lines in use: 362 million [27 per 100 persons] (February 2008)
- Telephones - mobile cellular subscribers: 720 million (Aug 2009). See List of countries by number of mobile phones in use
- Telephone country code: 86 (see Telephone numbers in China)
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
Verizon Business
Verizon Business is one of three operating units of Verizon Communications It was created in 2006 when Verizon Communications closed on its merger with MCI, Inc..Verizon Business has over 30,000 employees with 321 offices in 75 countries...
to build the first next-generation optical cable system directly linking the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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. The combined main lines and mobile lines is expected to hit 976 million by 2008.
From January to August 2006, mobile phone users on the mainland sent 273.67 million text messages
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
.
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
Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
(4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik
Intersputnik
The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications commonly known as Intersputnik is an international satellite communications services organization founded on November 15, 1971, in Moscow by the Soviet Union along with a group of eight formerly socialist states...
(Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat
Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
(Pacific and Indian Ocean regions).
Several international fiber-optic links include those to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Fixed and mobile operators in China include China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
, China Netcom
China Netcom
China Netcom, full name China Netcom Group Corporation Limited , abbreviated CNC, was a former telecommunication service provider in People's Republic of China...
, China TieTong, China Satcom, China Telecom
China Telecom
China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...
and China Unicom
China Unicom
China Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.-History:...
.
Radio
- See: China National RadioChina National RadioChina National Radio is the national radio station of the People's Republic of China. Its headquarters are in Beijing.- History :The infrastructure began with a transmitter from Moscow to set up its first station in Yan'an...
; China Radio InternationalChina Radio InternationalChina Radio International , the former Radio Beijing and originally Radio Peking, founded on December 3 of 1941, is one of the three state-owned media in China along with China National Radio and China Central Television in the People's Republic of China .As the PRC's external radio station, CRI...
- Radio broadcast stations: AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
- Radios: 428 million [33 per 100 persons] (2000)
Television
- Television companies: 358 (2008)
- Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central TelevisionChina Central TelevisionChina Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) - Televisions: 493.90 million [38 per 100 persons] (2003)
Internet
- See also: Internet in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet in the People's Republic of ChinaThe first connection of the mainland of the People's Republic of China with the Internet was established on between ICA Beijing and Karlsruhe University in Germany, under the leadership of Prof. Werner Zorn and Prof. Wang Yunfeng. Since then the Internet in China has grown to host the largest base...
; China Next Generation InternetChina Next Generation InternetThe China Next Generation Internet project is a five year plan initiated by the Chinese government with the purpose of gaining a significant position in the future development of the Internet through the early adoption of IPv6.-Key CNGI goals:...
; Chinese Domain Name ConsortiumChinese Domain Name ConsortiumThe Chinese Domain Name Consortium, created in 19 May 2000, is a collaboration among the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China , Hong Kong and Macau to come up with a standard way to create a domain name system for Chinese characters....
; Online gaming in ChinaOnline gaming in the People's Republic of ChinaOnline gaming in the People's Republic of China represents one of the largest and fastest growing Internet business sectors in the country. With 457 million Internet users currently active in the PRC, the country now has the largest online user base in world, of which two-thirds engage in online...
- Internet country codeCountry code top-level domainA country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
: .cn.cn.cn is the country code top-level domain for mainland China.The domain name administration in People's Republic of China is done through a branch of the Ministry of Information Industry. This ministry oversees everything from telecommunications to broadcasting similar to the Federal Communications... - Internet hosts: 13.57 million (2008)
- Internet service providerInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISP): 3 (2000) - Internet users: 420 million (June 2010)
- Broadband Internet users: 363.81 million (June 2010)
- Personal computers: 52,990,000 units [4 per 100 persons] (2004)
- Internet country code
China's number of Internet users or netizens topped 137 million by the end of 2006, 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, according to China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII). The latest figure (December 2009) have China's internet users exceeding 384 million making it the largest internet user in the world.
As of 2004, the largest concentration of Internet users were from Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
, Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
and Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
provinces. Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
also had a high concentration of Internet users, with 28% of Beijing's population having access to the Internet.
As of December 31, 2005, there were an estimated 37,504,000 broadband lines in China. It represented nearly a world share of 18%. Over 70% of the broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
lines were via DSL and the rest via cable modem
Cable modem
A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
s.
According to the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), by June 2006, China's broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
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.
As of 2007, ITU data puts China's broadband speed at 1Mbit/s. China is fast becoming the world's largest broadband economy. It is laying quite a lot of fiber which is a less disruptive option in China because of the amount of new building work being done. It has 14 million fiber lines, compared to 9.6 million in Japan, 1.7m in the US and just a few thousand in the UK but it does not generate the same speeds as in other Asian countries because the fiber tends to feed into apartment blocks rather than individual homes.
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 31.8% (June 2010). At the end of June 2007 there were 37.41 million netizens in the rural areas, making up only 5.1 percent of the rural population and around 125 million netizens living in the urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s, making up 21.6 percent of the urban population, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
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
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
on the Internet in China.
Mobile phone web users
The number of mobile phone web users in China was 73.05 million by June 2008, making up about 30% of China's 253 million internet users.Chinese mobile phone users access the Internet mainly via WAP (Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
). Numbers of active WAP users and WAP sites with independent domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
s amounted to 39 million and 65,000 respectively by March 2007.
It is expected that in 2008 there will be 230 million WAP users in China with a total market valued at RMB 22 billion.
Trans-Pacific Express
The Trans-Pacific Express is a telecommunications project to connect the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with China with a fiber-optic cable that is designed to meet increasing internet traffic between the regions, with 60 times more capacity than existing cables. It is to be the first undersea or submarine telecommunications cable that directly links the US with China and the first independent trans-Pacific connection. Current cable links between China and the US run through Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The project includes US Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
, Chinese firms China Telecom
China Telecom
China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...
, China Netcom
China Netcom
China Netcom, full name China Netcom Group Corporation Limited , abbreviated CNC, was a former telecommunication service provider in People's Republic of China...
and China Unicom
China Unicom
China Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.-History:...
, South Korea's Korea Telecom
Korea Telecom
KT Corporation is a South Korean integrated wired/wireless telecommunication service provider. KT has an information & communications business, and has the largest portion of the South Korean local telephone and high-speed Internet business...
and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan. It has its headquarters in Zhongzheng District, Taipei on the remains of the old Taipei Prison.- History :...
. The project was initiated in December 2006. Work began in mid-October 2007 in Qingdao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
. It is scheduled to be completed by July 2008 (before the Beijing Olympics).
Earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
hotspots have been avoided in the planned route of the cable to avoid potential disruption to internet and telephone networks in Asia. The cable will extend more than 18,000 km and will cost about $500m. It will terminate in Nedonna Beach, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
with connections to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. When complete, the new cable will be able to support the equivalent of 62 million simultaneous phone calls, with the design capacity to support future internet growth and advanced applications such as video and e-commerce.
See also
- Internationalized domain nameInternationalized domain nameAn internationalized domain name is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label that is displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in a language-specific script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi or the Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics,...
(IDN.IDNIDN.IDNIDN.IDN is an abbreviation for an Internationalized domain name whose Top level domain is also internationalized, which could be transliterated .com, .net, .org, etc...
) for non-ASCIIASCIIThe American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
characters - Chinese telegraph codeChinese telegraph codeThe Chinese Telegraph Code, Chinese Telegraphic Code, or Chinese Commercial Code is a four-digit decimal code for electrically telegraphing messages written with Chinese characters.- Encoding and decoding :...
- Digital divide in China
- CERNETCernetThe China Education and Research Network is the first nationwide education and research computer network in China. The CERNET project is funded by the Chinese government and directly managed by the Chinese Ministry of Education...
(China Education and Research Network) - Media in China and its history
- Electronic information industry in ChinaElectronic information industry in ChinaThe electronic information industry in China grew rapidly after the liberalization of the economy under the national strategic policy of accelerating the "informatization" of its industrial development....
- Postal system in ChinaPostage stamps and postal history of the People's Republic of ChinaAlthough postal service in China goes back some 2,500 years, modern postal services were not established until 1877 by the Qing government. The postal system of the People's Republic of China was established as the General Postal Administration in Beijing in 1949, growing out of the posts that had...
- China Software Industry AssociationChina Software Industry AssociationThe China Software Industry Association is the major representative and one of the most active associations in the China Software industry...
- Cell phone industry in ChinaCell phone industry in ChinaChina's mobile phone industry or cell phone industry has high growth rate, raising its share on the global mobile phone market. During 2007, 600 million mobile phones were made in China which accounted for over 50% of the global production....
- EUChinaGRID
- Internet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...