LUSAKA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Thursday hailed China's financial support for being vital to the country's migration of its television from analogue to digital.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya said the government was grateful that China, through the company StarTimes, decided to partner with the Zambian government to invest in the digitalization program.

She told Xinhua that the 273-million-U.S.-dollar financing from Startimes has gone a long way in helping the country invest in backbone infrastructure in order to move from analogue to digital.

"We did not have that money in advance and we are grateful that Startimes came in. This is a huge amount which has resulted in us investing in our broadcasting industry," she said.

The funds, she said, have gone in improving infrastructure at the state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, as well as the official news agency, the Zambia News and Information Service.

She further said the village television project being provided by the Chinese to link 500 villages with satellite television was another example of how China was helping Zambia improve its broadcasting services.