The country will link all households by telephone, including vast rural regions, by 2020, the Ministry of Information Industry said.

By July, 90 percent of villages were connected by phones lines and the number will increase to 95 percent next year, according to the ministry. The government scheme of a service fund is aimed at providing basic telecommunications services to all at affordable prices.

The nation has the most telephone users in the world with 295.48 million fixed line users and 305.28 million mobile users. In the first seven months, 68.07 million households added telephones - 32.74 million fixed lines and 35.33 million handsets.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2004)