Communications of China
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 368 million (2006) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 437.48 million (2006) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; 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 US mainland and China domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; mobile cellular subscribership is increasing rapidly; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: country code - 86; 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 country code: | .cn |
| Internet hosts: | 232,780 (2006) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 3 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 123 million (2006) |