Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration

The Imperial Telegraph Administration (ITA; Chinese: 電政總局)[1] or Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration (ICTA)[2] was a Qing-era government-controlled corporation (spec. guandu shangban) supervised by Sheng Xuanhuai.

Imperial Telegraph Administration
Seal of Qing dynasty
Agency overview
Formed1881
Dissolved1906 (1906)
Superseding agency
  • Ministry of Posts and Communications
JurisdictionQing Empire (China)

The ITA was established in 1881,[1] 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.[1] The same year, it absorbed the infant Chinese telephone network started in Nanjing.

It was nationalized in 1902 to allow otherwise unprofitable usage rates and expansion of the network[1] or to gain control of its profits.[2] The ITA was then absorbed by the newly formed Ministry of Posts and Communications in 1906. Following nationalization, control alternated between Sheng and his political rival Tang Shaoyi.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Harwit, Eric. China's Telecommunications Revolution, p. 28. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 0-19-923374-8.
  2. ^ a b Chiba, Masashi. "The nationalization of the Chinese telegraph industry in the late Qing period[permanent dead link]". Socio-Economic History Society, Vol. 63, No. 6.