(4) To better develop human resources and reform the mechanism of employment

Adjust the structure of personnel according to the industry's development. Attract and train different kinds of senior, capable people in areas of management and technology, especially those familiar with technology, management and marketing.

Take measures to establish a competitive mechanism for capable people and stabilize a team of capable staff. A good environment will be established to attract capable workers and to cope with the after-World-Trade-Organization entry campaign for capable people.

(5) To widen fund-raising channels and increase capital input

The telecom market will open step by step to enhance its links to both domestic and foreign financial markets. Private funds and capital from social legal entities will be invited to enter the telecom market.

Telecom operators will be encouraged to engage actively in capital manipulations. The industry will attract social capital in the form of issuing stocks directly, setting up companies with a limited liability, individual stock sharing and venture capital investment. At the same time, favorable policies will be implemented to attract funds to help promote important information resources programs and develop the telecom industry in middle and western areas.

(6) To safeguard the network and information security

Specify and improve the regulations and standards related to networks and information. The key point is to strengthen supervision over the security of corporation networks.

(7) To speed up telecom development in middle and western areas

Input will increase in these areas gradually and national treasure bonds and low-interest domestic and foreign loans will be used to develop the telecom infrastructure.

(8) To establish technological standards and to improve the country's capability in meeting international standards

National standards will be set in accordance with the national status quo and the development tendency of the technologies. China will make efforts to ensure that some of the standards become international standards to help elevate its status.

4. Overview of the telecom industry

The overall national telecom business volume was 395.32 billion yuan -- up 26.2 percent over 2000; the industry's operational income was 357.19 billion yuan -- up 16.1 percent from the year before, among which State-owned operators' income was 339.27 billion yuan -- an increase of 37.87 billion yuan over 2000. In 2001, the telecom industry's revenue was 60 billion yuan and the total investment in fixed assets was 264.8 billion yuan -- an increase of 29 and 15.3 percent respectively.

The fixed telephone subscribers climbed more than 36 million in 2001 reaching a total 180.39 million with an annual increase of 24.6 percent. Mobile phone subscribers rose 59.55 million with an increase of 69.9 percent. The total amount has reached 144.8 million, ranking first in the world. The total sum of Internet users has reached 36 million.

The development of the telecom in different operational areas was quite different in 2001, which posed an obvious change to the composition of the telecom business. Landline subscribers in the countryside increased much more rapidly than in cities. IP phones have developed rapidly with a total sum of 20.28 billion minutes -- 5.6 times more than during the same time in the previous year.

PSTN and IP have obviously supplemented each other. The total amount of IP calling minutes has accounted for 32 percent of the total long-distance telecom business -- up from 4.7 percent in the previous year. As for the income composition of the telecom operational business, the mobile telephone business has become a leader and the wireless pager business share has decreased gradually with a 26-percent decline in subscribers, which means 12.78 million users have given up pagers.

The competition map of the telecom market has been transformed. As the leading operators' market share continues to decline the newly rising companies are moving up gradually. China Telecom has a market share of 50.7 percent; China Mobile, 37.7 percent and China Unicom, 10.6 percent -- with the remainder accounting for 1 percent. The relevant figures in 2000 were 52.3, 39.1, 8.4 and 0.25 percent respectively.

In 2002 the telecom industry's operation volume totaled 505.165 billion yuan -- up 23.24 percent over the previous year. The telecom industry's operational income amounted to 411.582 billion yuan -- up 14.41 percent over the previous year. In 2002 the total fixed-asset investment totaled 203.457 billion yuan -- down 20.08 percent over the previous year.

Landline subscribers numbered 214.419 million -- up 34.05 million over 2001 and the number of mobile phone subscribers reached 206.616 million -- up 61.39 million over 2001 -- and still the No 1 in the world. While Internet users climbed to 49.7 million -- up 13.138 million -- pager users dropped 17.34 million over the previous year to a total 18.721.

[Source: Ministry of Information Industry]

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