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

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


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