The Imperial Telegraph Administration (ITA; )
[Harwit, Eric. ]
China's Telecommunications Revolution
', p. 28. Oxford University Press, 2008. . or Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration (ICTA)
[Chiba, Masashi.]
. ''Socio-Economic History Society'', Vol. 63, No. 6. was a
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
-era government-controlled corporation (spec. ''guandu shangban'') supervised by
Sheng Xuanhuai
Sheng Xuanhuai (; November 4, 1844 – April 27, 1916) was a Qing dynasty Chinese tycoon, politician, and educator. He founded several major banks and universities and served as Minister of Transportation of the Qing Empire. He was also known as ...
.
The ITA was established in 1881,
after which it swiftly gained a monopoly on Chinese telegraphy.
By 1900 the ITA administered 14,000 miles of telegraph wires and supervised another 20,000 miles under local control.
The same year, it absorbed the infant Chinese telephone network started in
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
.
It was nationalized in 1902 to allow otherwise unprofitable usage rates and expansion of the network
or to gain control of its profits.
The ITA was then absorbed by the newly formed
Ministry of Posts and Communications
The Ministry of Posts and Communications or YouchuanbuChen Zhongping. Modern China's Network Revolution: Chambers of Commerce and Sociopolitical Change in the Early Twentieth Century', p. 152. Stanford University Press, 2011. . () was a late Qing ...
in 1906. Following nationalization, control alternated between Sheng and his political rival
Tang Shaoyi
Tang Shaoyi (; 2 January 1862 – 30 September 1938), also spelled Tong Shao Yi, courtesy name Shaochuan (), was a Chinese statesman who briefly served as the first Premier of the Republic of China in 1912. In 1938, he was assassinated by the ...
.
See also
*
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
*
Self-Strengthening Movement
The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement (–1895), was a period of reforms initiated during the late Qing dynasty following the military disasters of the Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion.
The ...
*
Hundred Days' Reform
The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform () was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late Qing dynasty. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emp ...
*
Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. The country is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone excha ...
References
Qing dynasty
Telegraph companies
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