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China boasts the largest number of fixed line telephone and mobile phone subscribers as well as the largest Internet service market in the world. By mid-2004 there were 310 million mobile phone subscribers and 299 million landline subscriptions figures when you consider that China's telecommunications system was virtually nonexistent well into the 1980s.

In fact it is precisely the lack of historical infrastructure that has allowed China to basically leapfrog old technology and establish a modem, well-functioning telecom system, albeit one that remains unevenly distributed across the country. Big cities, industrial center and many larger towns enjoy excellent products and service while, not surprisingly, more rural and less prosperous areas make do with the less advanced options available.

China's telecom market is regarded as world's most important battleground by many of the big multinationals and is right at the cutting edge of telecom technology. The country's most successful players, such as state-owned China Telecom and workerowned Huawei, are already expanding overseas, opening offices in the US, the UK and Europe. These companies, and especially the large number of Chinese mobile phone and equipment makers, have benefited from cutthroat competition within China, which has forced them to become lean and efficient enough to compete on a global scale.