Lei Jun, founder of tech star Xiaomi Inc and a delegate to the National People's Congress (NPC), made a proposal on Monday during the ongoing two sessions regarding Internet service in rural areas.

Governments should make good use of the Internet to narrow the development gaps between rural and urban areas, Lei told a press conference in Beijing, in line with the central government's determination to ensure Internet access for everyone in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a statement on December 14, 2015 revealing its plan to cover all cities and rural areas in China with fourth-generation standard networks by 2018.

Besides the construction of Internet infrastructure, the introduction of mobile devices is also important for Internet development in rural areas, according to Lei's proposal.

Governments should help fast track the penetration of mobile devices among rural consumers, and Chinese mobile device producers should actively manufacture high-quality, low-cost products for Web users in rural areas, Lei wrote in a proposal seen by the Global Times.

He showed great optimism toward the prospects of the Internet in rural areas, which, as data from the China Internet Network Information Center showed, had 195 million Internet users as of the end of 2015, accounting for 28.4 percent of China's total.

In the next decade, Lei forecast, Internet development in rural areas will be a significant trend.

He also disclosed that investment institutions he has backed "have invested in some projects related to rural areas in the past two years."

However, he noted that Xiaomi, which is well known for its low-budget smartphones with a wide range of specifications, has no intention of venturing into the Internet sector in rural areas yet.

In 2015, Xiaomi shipped nearly 70 million smartphones domestically, retaining first position in China's smartphone market with a 15 percent share in the face of fierce competition from its rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co, according to a report that was issued by US-based market consultancy Strategy Analytics in late January.