China's Vice Minister Jiang Yaoping urged the global ICT industry to support its efforts in accelerating the development of the Chinese countryside where 80% of its 1.3 billion population reside.
"We want you to help us bridge this huge (economic) disparity between China's urban and rural communities by making ICT accessible for all," said Jiang in his speech yesterday at the opening of China Day at ITU TELECOM WORLD 2006.
Jiang said his country has targeted that by 2020 every village in China will have telephone connections and every township will have Internet access.
He said the country has made significant strides in bringing telephone access to the villages, with 28 of its provinces already enjoying 100% telephone access and another 24 having 98% coverage. "Forty percent of villages in Tibet have access to telephones now," Jiang said.
He said ICT is also benefiting local farmers, as 80% of its agricultural authorities have created Web sites providing farming information.
From 2001 to 2005, China invested in excess of 10 trillion yuan ($1.28 trillion) in ICT development and
the country will continue to encourage technology and business innovation and 3G technology.
"By 2010 we expect China to have over one billion mobile subscribers and 200 million Internet users," he said. "We hope that by then, ICT industry will have accounted for 10% of our GDP."