The report, issued by the National Informatization Evaluation Center (NIEC) under the Ministry of Information Industry, shows that the NIQ of China hit 38.46 in 2000. From 1998 to 2000, the NIQ increased at an annual rate of 21.9 percent.

On July 29 last year, the Ministry of Information Industry issued 20 indices for evaluating the increased use of the information services and named them NIQs.

The indices include: television and radio broadcast time per one thousand residents, per capita possession of band-width, the average per capita number of phone-calls and the trade volume of E-Commerce.

According to the report, Beijing has the highest NIQ in the country while Shaanxi Province leads the western provinces and autonomous regions, and even surpasses some developed provinces in the east. NIEC executive director Jiang Qiping said the rapid development of informatization has reshaped the structure of China's industry and has become a symbol in a new wave of modernization.

The report also shows that China has made remarkable progress in information network construction, information technology application and the exploitation of information resources. The information industry has become a pillar industry of China.

"This demonstrates the feasibility of the strategy of increasing industrialization by developing the information industry in a bid to make a big leap-forward in development," Jiang said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2002)