China Set To Surpass U.S. in Internet Users

By NewsFactor Network | January 24, 2007

Within the next two years, China is likely to become the nation with the most Internet users, according to the country’s government and Chinese news reports.

China’s total population is about 1.3 billion people, and the government-controlled China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) estimates that about 10 percent of the overall population uses the Internet.

The adoption of Internet technology in China is brisk, with a growth of about 23 percent last year in new users. If that rate holds steady, China could reach 210 million users in two more years. In comparison, about 210 million people in the U.S. are online, out of a population of 300 million.

Digital Life

The robust increase in Internet use is due to several factors, according to CINIC. Although cause for the increase has some basis in a growing total population, the adoption is driven more notably by falling computer prices and by more widespread use of mobile devices.

China is seeing very strong growth in wireless Internet use with mobile devices like PDAs and cell phones, with about 17 million people accessing the Internet through such devices. China has about 461 million mobile users in the nation.

In Beijing, the desire to access the digital realm is even stronger than in other parts of China, with over 30 percent of the population accessing the Internet regularly. Shanghai placed a close second, at about 28 percent.

As with other parts of the world, the majority of Chinese Internet users reported that sending and receiving e-mail was their primary online activity, followed by reading news and doing Internet searches.

Censorship Issues

As China surpasses the U.S. in Internet use, it is likely that increased attention will be paid to the country’s restrictions on online content. Major firms, such as Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo, have been working with Chinese censors for the past…

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