China's Number of Value-added Telecom Service Enterprises Nears 88,200
CAICT, 8/14/20
As of the end of July 2020, China's total number of enterprises holding a value-added telecommunications service license reached 88,181, up 2.96% month-on-month, reports the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a department of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Of this total, 21,124 were cross-regional enterprises licensed by the MIIT, up 2.24% MoM, and 67,057 were local enterprises licensed by provincial (regional, municipal) communications administrations, up 3.19% MoM.
Regionally, China's value-added telecommunications industry is currently characterized by uneven development. Among the 21,124 cross-regional enterprises, 5,092 are registered in Beijing, 4,306 in Guangdong, and 2,128 in Shanghai, for a combined total of 54.6%.
Among the 67,057 local enterprises, 13,318 are registered in Beijing, 7,986 in Guangdong, and 6,979 in Zhejiang, comprising a combined 42.2% of the nation's total local value-added telecom service enterprises. The next largest concentrations are in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Henan, and Sichuan, which, combined, comprise another 23.4% of the total, meaning that 65.6% of China's local value-added telecommunications companies are concentrated in these 7 provinces; in contrast, the combined number of local value-added telecommunications enterprises spread out across China's 12 western provinces accounted for only 12.8% of the country's total.
In terms of the main service categories provided by China's 21,124 cross-regional value-added telecommunications service enterprises, the top three were non-Internet information services (12,241 operators), domestic call center services (7,650 operators), and Internet access services (4,516 operators).
The range in the amount of registered capital across China's 21,124 cross-regional value-added telecommunications service enterprises is substantial, but with the majority (69.8%) clustered at RMB 10 mln. Those with registered capital greater than RMB 10 mln but less than RMB 50 mln comprised 16.9%, those with RMB 50 mln to RMB 100 mln comprised 7.1%, and those with RMB 100 mln or more comprised 5.7%. A small percentage (0.4%) had registered capital of less than RMB 10 mln.
Currently, the sources of investment and financing in China's value-added telecommunications field have become increasingly diversified, and private capital has developed into a major force. As of the end of July 2020, among China's 21,124 cross-regional value-added telecommunications service enterprises, 815 (3.9%) were state-owned, 20,077 (95.0%) were privately held, and 232 (1.1%) were foreign-invested enterprises.
Editor's Note: China's 12 western provinces include Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Ganxu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
Keywords: ISP wireless Internet telecom MIIT call center Internet access CAICT private investment national statistics