Information policy of the Peoples Rebuplic of China

Report on the Information Policy of the Peoples Republic of China

The purpose of this report is to examine the information policy of the Peoples Republic of China. This will incorporate information infrastructure, distribution and access to information technologies and government policy regarding the growth and distribution of these technologies.

China is a vast country in terms of land mass (9.9 million sq. Km) and population (1.3 billion), these are important figures to remember when considering the relative information infrastructure when compared to other countries.

What is first apparent is the massive growth in telecommunications over the last 5 years. Telephones in use (fixed line and mobile) have risen from 66.8 phones per 1000 people in 1997 to 177.6 in 2000, this is estimated at around 135 million fixed lines (2000) and 65 million mobile phones (2001) in total. However there is an unevenly distributed domestic system that serves only the key cities and industrial ...