Beijing Strives to Be Modern Information CenterChina's national capital Beijing is striving to become one of the leading information centers in the world by 2005, and a just-published government plan has set concrete goals.Under a five-year plan on information technology development, Beijing will set up a wide-band network linking all urban districts and 90 percent of suburban areas in five years. Over 90 percent of the families in Beijing will be connected with the cable TV networks, and there will be one computer for every two households. The number of fixed telephone subscribers will climb to 7.8 million and that of mobile phones will top 8.6 million. The number of Internet users will reach six million. Over 90 percent of the local enterprises will be equipped with interactive office systems, e-commerce and other modern information facilities. The city will ensure some major breakthroughs in independent development of key information technologies, software, integrated circuits and optical communication. In the five years to 2005, the added value of the information sector will grow at an annual rate of more than 30 percent. |
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