The line graph illustrates the number of users of three communication technologies – fixed telephone lines, mobile phones and the Internet – in China over an 11-year period from 1994 to 2005.
Overall, the use of all three technologies increased significantly during the period. While fixed telephone lines were the most widely used form of communication at the beginning, mobilephone experienced the fastest growth and became the most popular technology by 2005.
In 1994, there were around 10 million users of fixed telephone lines. This figure rose steadily and reached approximately 200 million in 2000. Although mobile phones overtook fixed telephone lines in 2002, the number of landline users continued to increase, finishing at roughly 350 million in 2005.
Mobile phones first appeared in 1996 with about 50 million users, while Internet usage began one year later at a similar level. The number of mobile phone users then grew rapidly and surpassed that of fixed telephone lines in 2002, reaching about 300 million compared to approximately 260 million landline users. After that, Internet usage continued to rise sharply, hitting an all-time high of around 400 million in 2005. Similarly, the number of Internet users increased steadily and reached nearly 150 million by the end of the period.