The income earned by China's communications services reached 515 billion yuan (about 62 billion US dollars) in 2003, up 12.8 percent over the figure for the previous year, according to the latest statistics from the Information Industry Ministry.

More than 90 percent of the income came from telecommunications, which rose 13.9 percent over the previous year.

In 2003, the number of phone users in China grew by 112 million to reach 532 million, the largest number of phone users in the world. The number of mobile phone users totaled 269 million, an increase of 63 million in the year, and that of fixed telephone users reached 263 million, an increase of 49 million, according to the ministry.

Nearly 90 percent of the villages in China now have telephones, and a nationwide telecommunications network with worldwide connections has been formed, the ministry said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency 7, 2004)