China Telecom, the nation's leading telecommunications operator, reported a business volume totaling 145.5 billion yuan (17.5 billion US dollars) last year, surging an annual 11.9 percent.

By the end of 1999, China Telecom had extended its long-distance optical fiber cables to 213,000 km nationwide, with new cables in western and northern China completed and old ones upgraded.

To solve the problem of congestion in international telecommunication, China Telecom has increased its international phone capacity to 33,000 lines and Internet cable bandwidth to 345M.

Meanwhile, China Telecom registered earnings of 147 billion yuan in fixed-line business, with the number of its customers surpassing 100 million.

According to this year's plan, China Telecom will further promote its Internet business with government, enterprises, and citizens, in addition to increasing its telephone business. (Xinhua)