BEIJING, July 10 -- China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Wednesday issued licenses to the nation's three major telecom operators to set up international communications gateway exchanges in four cities.

China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom are approved to set up the gateway exchanges in the cities of Nanning, Qingdao, Kunming and Haikou, according to a statement from the ministry.

The gateway exchanges that connect to the global network are an important information infrastructure for China's international communications, the MIIT said.

According to the country's telecommunication regulations, the provision of an international communications service within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall only be made through such gateway exchanges established with the approval of information industry authorities.

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong said that the establishment of these exchanges will support the further opening up of China's telecom services, cross-border data flows and the development of international digital trade.

He also stressed efforts in supervision and security work in the development of international communications services.