China is planning to have all its citizens to be accessible to digital cable TV programs from 2015, an official said in Shenzhen Saturday.

Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said China is working to switch from analog cable television to digital cable television after a three-year pilot program proves successful in 49 urban areas.

He made the remarks at the on-going second China International Cultural Industry Fair held in the southern Guangdong province.

By now, the upgrading of digital broadcasting in cities like Qingdao, Hangzhou, Shenzhen has been completed, while the work in provinces and municipalities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Sichuan is still going on.

By the end of last year, China had 2,548 radio and TV stations.

According to government statistics, there are 126 million cable TV users in the country.

China has a total of 900 million TV viewers with most of them living in the countryside, whom will not be provided with digital cable TV programs in the foreseeing future.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)