Sales volume of China's electronics and other information products in the first nine months of this year equaled last year's total. This year's total should exceed 2 trillion yuan (US$240 billion), said Xi Guohua, vice minister of information, Monday at the fourth China Network Media Forum.

China's information industry has enjoyed drastic growth in recent years, especially the business of telephone and internet service, he said.

China has added more than 90 million telephones annually in recent years, and the number of its telephone users, 627 million, leads the world, Xi said, noting that there are 49.3 telephones for every hundred Chinese people.

After a decade of development, internet surfers in China have surpassed 90 million, second in the world, he said. There are 600,000 websites in China, with 36.6 million computers connecting to the Internet and 20 million families enjoying broadband service.

Internet-based services such as e-commerce, e-government and remote education have also scored rapid growth in China, he said.

China has made it a development strategy to upgrade traditional industries through information technology. It initiated the annual forum on network media in 2001. The theme this year focuses on the creation of a healthy Internet environment.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2004)