In the last five years, China's telecommunications revenue has maintained an annual growth rate of over 22% with the completion of the world's largest fixed telephone and mobile phone networks.

At the launch ceremony for China's telecommunication yearbook recently, an official with the Ministry of Information Industry said that from 1998 to 2002, the percentage of added value of the telecommunication industry in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had risen from 1.5% to 2.7%. In 2002, China's telecommunication service revenue totaled US$55 billion, up 14% year-on-year.