Editing Internet in China (section)

==Structure==
An important characteristic of the Chinese internet is that online access routes are owned by the Chinese government, and private enterprises and individuals can only rent bandwidth from the state.<ref name=dkh>{{cite journal|last=Herold|first=David Kurt|title=Escaping the World: A Chinese Perspective on Virtual Worlds|journal=Journal of Virtual Worlds Research|date=September 2012|volume=5|issue=2|doi=10.4101/jvwr.v5i2.6206|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |hdl=10397/5785 |url=https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/6206/6040|access-date=27 November 2017|doi-access=free|archive-date=1 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801025828/https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/6206/6040|url-status=live|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The first four major national networks, namely [[CSTNET]], [[ChinaNet]], [[CERNET]] and CHINAGBN, are the "backbone" of the mainland Chinese internet. Later dominant [[Telecommunications industry in China|telecom providers]] also started to provide internet services. [[China Telecom]], [[China Unicom]], and [[China Mobile]] control operate the [[internet exchange point]]s through which incoming traffic must pass.<ref name=":Curtis&Klaus">{{Cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Simon |title=The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order |last2=Klaus |first2=Ian |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=9780300266900 |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=2024}}</ref>{{Rp|page=74}}

In January 2015, China added seven new access points to the world's internet backbone, adding to the three points that connect through Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.<ref>{{cite web|title = 7个新增国家级互联网骨干直联点建设全面竣工|url = http://www.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11293832/n11293907/n11368223/16402896.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150121025150/http://www.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11293832/n11293907/n11368223/16402896.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 21 January 2015|website = www.miit.gov.cn|access-date = 28 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = China expands Internet backbone to improve speeds, reliability|url = http://www.itworld.com/article/2868215/china-expands-internet-backbone-to-improve-speeds-reliability.html|website = ITworld|date = 13 January 2015|access-date = 28 November 2015|archive-date = 8 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208110239/http://www.itworld.com/article/2868215/china-expands-internet-backbone-to-improve-speeds-reliability.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

As of at least 2023, the internet in China is characterized by uneven development, with the adoption rate and availability of the internet varying by region and population groups.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=5–7}}