BEIJING -- China will continue to expand the broadband network, and increase Internet speed and coverage, giving more people access to fast and convenient connections, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Friday.

According to a guideline on the special action of promoting broadband in China, issued by MIIT, over 600,000 new 4G network base stations will be built to give access to more townships and villages. More than 40 million households will have access to optical-fiber broadband Internet, and over 200 million mobile phone holders will become 4G network users by the end of this year.

About 60 million more people signed up to 4G accounts in the first quarter, meaning there are now 162 million people that use the service in China, according to government statistics.

The "Broadband China" strategy was first floated in August 2013, in an effort to boost information consumption, expand broadband coverage across the country, and the aim of offering broadband speeds of 4 megabytes per second (Mbps) to those in rural areas and 20 Mbps in urban areas by 2020.