China will expand its international telecom capacity to improve overseas transmission routing to countries like Europe and the US. In the meantime, China will distribute international telecom traffic evenly and fully apply the satellites to protect important electro circuits, an official from the Ministry of Information Industry said.

Officials say that China has formed an international transmission network using submarine and terrestrial cables as its main means of transmission, and uses satellite links as a supplement. The submarine cables lead mainly to North America, Europe, and the Asian-Pacific region, most of which pass through Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In addition, a spokesperson for the telecommunications industry recently briefed the media on developments and policies in China. It was reported that China' submarine cables are already beyond capacity. The average usage rate of submarine cables has reached 80 percent. Influenced by international construction periods and construction complexities of submarine cables, expansion is difficult. Submarine cables cannot adapt to the increasing demands of international telecommunications. On December 26 last year, an earthquake off the south of Taiwan cut 6 cables linking China to the world, affecting international networks. In view of this incident, officials say, not only will the number of international cables be expanded, but cables will be routed differently to protect the security of China's international telecommunications networks.

By People's Daily Online