By WANG Xiaoxia

All of China's administrative villages had broadband network services by the end of November 2021, significantly improving digital access for rural residents and providing strong support for rural vitalization and modernization.

▲ A worker performs routine maintenance at a communication base station in China's Shanxi Province. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

To bridge the urban-rural digital divide, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) jointly established a telecommunications service compensation mechanism in 2015. Since then, over 22 billion RMB has been allocated to build communication infrastructure in rural and remote areas, according to MOF official Zou Suping.

MIIT chief engineer Tian Yulong said that optical fiber networks have been deployed in 130,000 administrative villages, with 60,000 4G base stations constructed. Rural internet services are now affordable, with bundled mobile internet, home broadband, and internet TV costing only 30–40 RMB per household, benefiting more than 28 million formerly impoverished households.

Rural users now enjoy download speeds of up to 100Mb/s—on par with urban levels—enabling equal access to digital resources. Nearly all rural primary and secondary schools are connected to the internet, supporting online education during the pandemic, while telemedicine has enhanced rural healthcare delivery.

Broadband deployment has accelerated agricultural industrial upgrading. In the first three quarters of 2021, national online sales of agricultural products exceeded 300 billion RMB, up 1.5% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Lifting people out of poverty, digital connectivity is paving the way for shared prosperity.

Tian noted that going forward, local governments will expand internet applications and deepen its integration with e-commerce, tourism, and agriculture.

Editor | SONG Ziyan

Supervisor| TIAN Xueke