Telecommunications in China
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.
The country is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to foreign countries.
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.
[citation needed] In addition, conference telephone service was initiated, radio communications were improved, and the production of telecommunications equipment was accelerated.
The program allotted top priority to scarce electronics and construction resources and dramatically improved all aspects of China's telecommunications capabilities.
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.
By 1987, China possessed a diversified telecommunications system that linked all parts of the country by telephone, telegraph, radio, and 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.
A considerable influx of foreign technology and increased domestic production capabilities had a major impact in the post-Mao period.
By late 1986 fiber optic communications technology was being employed to relieve the strain on existing telephone circuits.
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 broadcasts, telegrams, telephone calls, and facsimile, probably to remote areas of the country.
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.
Teletype transmission was used for messages at the international level, but some 40 percent of county and municipal telegrams were transmitted by Morse code.
Radio Beijing broadcast to the world in thirty-eight foreign languages, Standard Mandarin, and a number of Chinese varieties, including Xiamen, Cantonese, and Hakka.
The nationwide network of wire lines and loudspeakers transmitted radio programs into virtually all rural communities and many urban areas.
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.
Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama (see Culture of the People's Republic of China).
In 2004, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began the Connecting Every Village Project to promote universal access to telecommunication and internet services in rural China.
[4]: 25 Beginning in late 2009, the program began building rural telecenters each of which had at least one telephone, computer, and internet connectivity.
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.
However, many more are reached, especially in rural areas, via loudspeaker broadcasts of radio programs that bring transmissions to large numbers of radioless households.
[4]: 148 In March 2012, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that China has 1.01 billion mobile phone subscribers; of these, 144 million are connected to 3G networks.
[10]: 119 The primary regulator of communications, in particular telecommunications, in China is the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
Since 2014, the Cyberspace Administration of China is responsible for setting policy and the regulatory framework for user content generated in online social activities on Internet portals.
China imported its first mobile phone telecommunication facilities in 1987 and it took a decade for the number of subscribers to reach 10 million.
Several international fiber-optic links include those to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany.
