Currency (code):
yuan (CNY); note - also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB)
Currency code:
CNY
Exchange rates:
yuan per US dollar - 7.97 (2006), 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004),
8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications China
Telephones - main lines in use:
350.433 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
437.48 million (2006)
Telephone system:
general assessment: domestic and international services are
increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed
domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and
many towns; China continues to develop its telecommunications
infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand
its global reach; three of China's six major telecommunications
operators are part of an international consortium which, in December
2006, signed an agreement with Verizon Business to build the first
next-generation optical cable system directly linking the US
mainland and China
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular
telephone systems have been installed; mobile cellular
subscribership is increasing rapidly; a domestic satellite system
with 55 earth stations is in place
international: country code - 86; satellite earth stations - 5
Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik
(Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean
regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South
Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Radios:
417 million (1997)