China: internet access in rural areas 2023

Throughout the past few years, there has been a steady progression in rural China’s internet infrastructures. By June 2023, the internet penetration rate in rural areas in the country increased to around 60.5 percent, yet, remained lower than the national level. The internet coverage in urban regions reached 85.1 percent.

The leaps in Chinese telecommunications

Since the 1990s, China has seen a rapid development of telecommunications, mainly driven by the introduction of fiber-optic systems and digital technologies. The Chinese government had been keen on building more telecommunication infrastructures. Between 2014 and 2022, the number of 4G mobile base stations saw a dramatic increase. The internet connection has been extensively expanded to public places. In 2018, about 22 percent of the Chinese users accessed the internet in a public area, representing a three-fold increase compared with a decade ago. It is also worth noting that the download speed of fixed-line broadband in China has been upgraded substantially.

Unleash the rural internet power

Yet among the 490 million rural population in China, one in three of them did not have access to the internet in 2022. To provide more affordable internet services, measures have been carried out in Chinese villages and small towns to reduce service rates and extend the broadband connection. In the end of 2022, around 30 percent of internet users were living in rural China. With the enhancement of internet coverage in the countryside, the Chinese online community will see plenty of growth.