LUSAKA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Monday that all was set for the launch of the China-funded digital village television project aimed at empowering rural areas to have access to digital television.

Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya said the government, in collaboration with the Chinese government, had made tremendous progress in commencing the project which will soon be launched by President Edgar Lungu as part of the broader digital migration project.

"This is part of the bigger agenda to provide universal television access in Zambia within the next two years," she told reporters during a press briefing.

The project, being undertaken by StarTimes Group, a joint venture company contacted to manage Zambia's digital migration project, will see the provision of communal digital televisions to about 500 villages across the southern African nation.

It is one of the fruits of the resolutions of the 2015 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in South Africa in which the Chinese government pledged to provide satellite television to 10,000 African villages in 25 African countries.

According to her, the development was a good achievement as it will allow people in rural areas to participate in the country's governance.

She added that the provision of television for entertainment, news and information was an important cornerstone for democracy, adding that the government's ultimate goal was to provide universal television access for all.

This is a real milestone as it stood to bring a lot of benefits to the social, economic development agenda of the country, she added.