China invested a total of 4.3 trillion yuan (630 billion U.S. dollars) in Internet infrastructure construction from 1997 to 2009, said a white paper issued by the Information Office of the State Council Tuesday.

According to the paper, titled "The Internet in China", China built a nationwide optical communication network with a total length of 8.267 million kilometers, 840,000 kilometers of which were long-distance optical cables, it said.

By the end of 2009, Chinese basic telecom companies had 136 million broadband Internet access ports, and international outlet bandwidth was 866,367 Gbps, with seven land-submarine cables and 20 land cables, boasting a combined capacity of 1,600 Gb, the paper said.

The infrastructure development ensured Internet access to 99.3 percent of towns and 91.5 percent of villages, and broadband to 96 percent of the towns, it said.

The Chinese government began to issue third-generation (3G) licenses to mobile service suppliers in January 2009. At present, 3G network covers almost the whole country.

"Along with the swift expansion of the mobile Internet, more people will benefit from this technical advance," the paper said.