Nearly 99 percent of Chinese administrative villages have had telephone services by the end of 2006, according to the country's Ministry of Information Industry.

Latest statistics showed that telephone service has reached 98.85 percent of administrative villages across the country. 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions are having all their administrative villages "lined up".

Wang Xudong, Minister of Information Industry, said China will provide telephone service to all administrative villages in the country by the end of 2007, adding that equipment maintenance and service management in the villages will be improved while charges will be lowered to more acceptable levels.

"We will guarantee all the villagers satisfactory telephone service at low costs," said Wang.

Statistics show that more than 744 million Chinese live in the country's rural areas by the end of 2005.

China now has 830 million fixed and mobile telephone subscribers, and 132 million Internet users.

Ministry of Information Industry have planned to provide telephone service to all administrative villages and Internet service to all township by 2010.

Earlier reports said China has invested 200 billion yuan in extending telephone services to the country's 70,000 administrative villages over the past two years, and has built 6,389 agricultural websites by November to provide information services on agriculture machine, trade and labor services, which are well received by farmers.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)