China to encourage more private enterprises to participate in telecommunications sector

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Saturday issued a draft document aimed at improving the business environment in the telecommunications sector and encouraging more private enterprises to participate. 

The MIIT said it will adjust access standards for the satellite internet business in steps, and grant more policy support for private enterprises in telecommunications services and related innovative areas, in a bid to encourage involvement by more private enterprises. There will also be trial runs for new policies in certain areas such as free trade zones.

The draft said market competition supervision will be enhanced, including a mechanism for monitoring, assessment and reporting to regulate market activities. The draft also called on large-scale platform enterprises to treat third-party enterprises fairly and equally, and to rectify the mechanism for reporting and resolving issues.

From January to August this year, the revenue in China's telecommunications sector hit 1.14 trillion yuan, up 6.2 percent year-on-year. The number of 5G mobile phone users reached 714. 47 million, rising by 45.1 percent year-on-year, MIIT data showed.