China’s recent economic growth has expanded industrialization and urbanization, upgraded consumption, increased social mobility, and initiated a shift from an agricultural-based economy to one based on services and industry. However, more than half of China’s population still lives in rural areas, where the average per capital income is less than a third of the urban average. The government of China has increased its commitment to rural development and poverty-reduction programs, with attention to narrowing the rural-urban divide. Informatization-defined as the transformation of an economy and society driven by information and communications technology (ICT)-is increasingly being explored as a way of helping poor people. Rural Informatization in China presents an overview and in-depth analysis of rural ICT initiatives in China. This study reviews the present-day status of China’s rural informatization infrastructure, examines and summarizes by organizational model the key initiatives in the past decade, and provides policy recommendations to address current challenges. Case studies of different financing models of rural ICT initiatives from China and other countries are included.
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