China’s average download speed for fixed broadband networks reached 4.03Mbit/s (515.4kByte/s) in Q2 this year, rising 8.6% from 3.71Mbit/s in Q1 this year and 37.5% as compared with the first half of last year, according to a report released by the Broadband Development Alliance, a third party research organization.

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From regional perspective, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Fujian grabbed the top five positions in terms of average download speed. Altogether nine provincial-level regions recorded average download speed higher than 4Mbit/s, including the top five regions as well as Zhejiang, Shandong, Tianjin and Guangdong.

China’s regional difference in broadband speed is obvious. Eight out of the nine above-mentioned regions come from the East with an only exception of Sichuan, which is located in the west of China. The average download speed of all provinces exceeded 3Mbit/s.

The average display time for fixed broadband web browsers raised from 2.31 seconds in Q1 to 2.37 seconds in Q2 this year, the report added.

Although the Internet speed for Chinese urbanities is a lot faster than the past few years, it still lags far behind the international level. In order to build out faster Internet infrastructures, China’s State Council launched “Broadband China” plan last year, aiming to realize full broadband network coverage by 2020. 

Emma Lee (Li Xin) was TechNode's e-commerce and new retail reporter until June 2022, when she moved to Sixth Tone to cover technology and consumption. Get in touch with her via lixin@sixthtone.com or Twitter.

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