GUANGZHOU: Imagine shopping , booking tickets or even applying for official permits anywhere and anytime at the click of a mouse!

Well, that would no longer be a dream for the Guangzhou citizens. The folks will be able to do so by 2010.

Xie Xuening, director of Guangzhou IT Application Office, said that Guangzhou would work on 36 massive IT application projects in the coming four years and this would improve city's IT infrastructure substantially turning Guangzhou into a digital city by 2010.

The 3G mobile telecom network, digital TV network and next-generation Internet will be the highlight of the 36 projects.

"Guangzhou will improve the Internet broadband and diversify connections by developing fibre broadband connection, wireless connection as well as interactive digital TV connection at any corner of the city," he said. "Citizens will be able to log on to the Internet anywhere downtown and anytime by then."

He said the city would apply information technologies to diverse sectors that are closely related to citizens' livelihood.Education, medical service, social pension and public transportation are some of such sectors that will be made much more convenient through IT applications.

Xie said that Guangzhou would set up Internet training centres on all the streets across the city, and will set up Internet service centres in the city's 1,177 administrative villages for the low-income citizens, rural households and migrant population so that they could use Internet.

Xie said that e-commerce would become a very important transaction mode by 2010 and the e-commerce transactions are expected to reach 225 billion yuan ($27.74 billion), making up 10 percent of the city's annual retail volume.

Besides, 95 percent of the government approvals will be done online and much more information about government affairs and public services will be available online.

He said every 100 urban household in Guangzhou is expected to have 130 computers in 2010; and rural households will have 45 computers.

Qi Ming, a professor of South China University of Technology's e-business school, believes that it will not take very long for Guangzhou to become a digital city.

Qi makes his analysis on the basis of significant advancement Guangzhou has made in IT applications.

Citing statistics, the professor said, every 100 household in Guangzhou has 91.3 computers and its current Internet subscribers have surpassed 4-million mark.

Moreover, 1,267 governmental or public services can be handled online.

Qi said that the city's e-commerce transactions worth 65.2 billion yuan ($8.04 billion) in 2005 reflects the growing popularity of e-payment, online deals and credit card consumption among the Guangzhou citizens.