China to expand internet ‘backbone’ to boost speed and reliability

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on 12 January that it has added seven new access points to the world's internet backbone, in addition to the three points that connect through Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

According to the online publication Computerworld, the additional internet infrastructure will help accelerate access speeds across China and ensure the country’s internet stays functional.

Technology law expert Peter Bullock of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: “Since 2013 certain segments of Chinese domestic internet usage have increased very dramatically, between 30% and 55% in one year. The ‘hot’ segments are online shopping, online advertising and online games, plus mobile search and mobile payments.”

Bullock said: “This all generates an ever increasing demand for bandwidth. Although some western websites are blocked from being accessed from within China, there are usually very popular domestic equivalent services available to take their place. The growth curve shows no sign of abating. Indeed, in segments such as online shopping, China has some of the highest degrees of uptake anywhere.”

According to MIIT, China has laid more than 3,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable since October 2014 and invested 2.9 billion renminbi ($477 million) in its construction. The country’s three state-owned telecom operators, which provide most of China's internet broadband, have driven the expansion, MIIT said.

In a statistical report on internet development in the country, released last January, the China Internet Network Information Center said that as of December 2013 China had 500 million mobile internet users. Mobile phones are “still the main driving force for the growth of internet users in China”, the report said.