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Ten years ago, most Chinese people had never seen a mobile phone. Today, however, 150 million Chinese people own a mobile phone. Twenty years ago, it was difficult for a family to acquire a telephone. Today, there is an average of 25.9 telephones per 100 persons nationwide.
The explosion in telecommunications technology has brought convenience to the daily life of Chinese people and serves as a primary example of the positive changes in China's primary industries and infrastructure.
According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) here on Wednesday, the Chinese government, in order to accelerate economic growth in the period after 1989, initiated a campaign to boost primary industries and reinforce China's infrastructure.
The report said that, from 1989 to 2001, the Chinese government poured 6.3 trillion yuan (US$761 billion) into 1,553 infrastructure projects, covering sectors including farming, forestation, animal husbandry, fisheries, energy, raw materials, transportation, postal and telecom services and other public services.
The totality of these projects constituted an increase of nearly 4.3 trillion yuan (US$516 billion) in China's fixed assets, according to the NBS report.
During the past thirteen years, China's agricultural and water conservation sectors have seen marked improvement, resulting in higher output of grains, cotton and edible oil.
By the end of 2001, national electrical capacity was 1.48 trillion kilowatt hours, 900 billion kilowatt hours higher than in1989, said the NBS, adding that the exploitation capacities of coal, petroleum and natural gas in China had also increased significantly. In stark contrast with the poor transportation infrastructure of the past, China now has a modern, comprehensive transportation network which reaches in all directions by rail, road, highways, marine and airlines.
According to NBS, China now boasts over 70 thousand kilometers of railway, 1.7 million kilometers of roads, and 28,000 kilometers of oil and gas pipeline. In addition, China has launched a total of 1,143 airlines for domestic and overseas travel.
Since 1989, China's postal and telecommunication industries have been developing at a quick pace. Nearly 80 percent of Chinese towns now have a post office, and telephone service has been extended to all Chinese towns.
By the end of 2001, the number of telephone and mobile phone users in China had topped 300 million, the highest in the world.
In 1989, Chinese people used less than 130 million cubic meters of water each day, while today the daily volume has increased to 230 million cubic meters. Other public service facilities like coal gas equipment, sewage plants and city buses also expanded quickly during the same period.
To further stimulate domestic demand, since 1998, the Chinese government has issued a total of 500 billion yuan (US$60 billion) in special, long-term treasury bonds to boost the development of primary industries and infrastructure projects.
During the past four years, the Chinese government has made optimal use of these funds. A huge central storage depot containing over 35 billion kilograms of grain was built, 16,000 kms of roads were added, and a series of environmental protection projects was undertaken in order to alleviate the burden of the rural population.
The Chinese government invested a major part of the bonds to develop the western areas. About half of the T-bonds issued in 2001 and over 60 percent of the 2001 infrastructure projects were dedicated to developing central and western China.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2002)
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