BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) urged telecommunication companies to lower Internet prices and elevate connection speeds on Sept 22.

Telecommunication enterprises should make sure earlier targets are met by the end of this year and implement speed increases and price reduction measures, MIIT Minister Miao Wei said at the opening ceremony of the 2015 China International Information Communication Expo, which will be held in Beijing from Sept 22 to Sept 25.

By the end of this year, the average broadband speed for users in major municipalities and provincial capitals will be increased to 20 megabytes per second (Mbps) from the current 9 Mbps. Other urban areas should be improved to 10 Mbps from the current 7 Mbps, the MIIT announced earlier in May.

Average prices for mobile phone Internet and fixed broadband should be sharply decreased by at least 30 percent from the previous year by the end of this year.