China is planning to multiply the number of people in the country using the Internet in the near future by implementing the latest technology.

The integrated E-business service platform, developed by the Shenzhen Liming Networks Systems, one of the largest computer network integration firms in China, enables users to access service providers and other users of E-commerce via television, telephones and facsimiles, as well as personal computers. The core of the technology is an information switch, or I-switch, that can bridge the flow of data between such electronic networks as TV, telecommunications, and the Internet.

The Shenzhen Liming Network Systems signed an agreement today with IBM of the United States on strategic cooperation in developing applications of E-commerce that are suitable for conditions in China today.

Director of the National Office of Information Technology Song Ling said at the signing ceremony that the Chinese government is considering listing this new technology as one of the national experimental E-commerce projects.

The Shenzhen Liming Network Systems has already installed this technology for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange for the on-line trading of securities.

Henry Chow, chairman of IBM operations in the greater China region, said on November 9 that the company will help China explore various ways to expand E-commerce.