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Posts and Telecommunications
Since 1978, the development
of posts and telecommunications has entered a new historical stage.
The scale and volume of the telephone network, and the level of
technology and services have all realized qualitative leaps. China
has built up its public telecommunications network to cover the
whole nation and link it up with the rest of the world.
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The public postal network
now boasts complete services and multiple transportation means.
Many advanced methods are used, including optical cables, digital
microwave networks, satellites, program-controlled exchanges, mobile
telecommunications and data telecommunications. By the end of 1999,
the nation??s total mobile telephone exchange capacity had reached
160 million circuits, and the number of mobile telephone users had
reached 43.24 million, making China the third-largest market for
mobile phones in the world. The total number of telephone users
in China reached 110 million in 1999, accounting for 13 percent
of the nation??s population, while the percentage in 1978 was 0.38
percent; and in urban areas, the percentage in 1999 was 28.4 percent,
while in 1978 it was only 1.9 percent. In rural areas, 79.8 percent
of the administrative villages now have telephones. China has 102,000
post offices nationwide, and the total length of postal routes and
rural mail delivery routes reaches 6.215 million km. All large and
medium-sized cities provide international express mail service,
and have developed international automatic telex, data transmission,
express fax, and TV program transmission services. Besides, various
services via the Internet, including e-mail and e-commerce, are
now available.
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