sentences:  Compared to an urban telephone density of 27.7 percent, the rural telephone density of 2.85 percent is 10 times lower than urban telephone density in 1998.Nevertheless, the situation of ICT development in rural China has improved gradually, thanks to general economic development and to the influx of ICT investment in rural areas.In 1998, the number of new telephone subscribers reached 6.913 million in rural areas, a 38.7 percent increase over 1997.