Communications in China

This article is on the Communications in Mainland China. See also: Communications in Taiwan, Communications in Hong Kong, Communications in Macau

Telephones - main lines in use: 135 million (2000 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 65 million (January 2001)

Telephone system: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
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 - 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 to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000)

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

Radios: 417 million (1997)

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: 400 million (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000)

Internet users: 45.8 million (2002)

Country codes: CN