China to accelerate broadband development

BEIJING - China will accelerate the development of broadband web access in a bid to shore up the country's economic and social development, according to a statement released Tuesday.

In the statement issued on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Liu Lihua, MIIT vice minister, said China aims have more than 250 million broadband users by the end of 2015, with Internet access speeds in urban and rural areas reaching 20 megabits and 4 megabits, respectively.

Liu also said broadband service coverage in China's rural areas will hit 95 percent by 2015.

Liu urged relevant companies to intensify R&D input in order to provide high-quality products to meet the different needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, schools, households and communities.

The MIIT will formulate more regulations to ensure fair competition in, and the smooth development of, the broadband industry, said Liu, noting that more than 100 countries have launched broadband development strategies.

China had about 505 million Internet users by the end of 2011, and about 150 million of them are broadband users, according to data from the Internet Society of China.