China Will Soon Have World s Largest Online Population

The latest report from China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) finds China had 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007. China's online population is now on the way to becoming the world's largest sometime in the beginning of this year.

CNNIC's latest report shows that China added 73 million Internet users in 2007 and the annual growth rate of Internet users topped 53 percent. This rapid growth translates to 200 thousand new online users for each day last year. The expanding online population has boosted China's share of broadband internet users to number 1 in the world as the proportion of dial-up users drops. The director of CNNIC's Research and Development Department Liu Bing explains the reasons for the rapid growth of Chinese netizens.

"The Internet infrastructure is continually improving and online service providers are offering better service for the netizens. Also, the IT product manufacturers are making more products with lower prices for the consumers."

China's Internet population will get a further boost after the country rolls out 3G or third generation mobile telephone service this year. Internet access and data-heavy applications such as videos will become faster. Liu Bing predicts the next big thing will be mobile internet access and ubiquitous online service.

"In the future, we believe ubiquitous online service will be used more widely in the business areas. Most of the regularly used online services will be driven by business and lifestyle needs."

As online users and their influence on the virtual world increase, Liu Bing says a golden age for online commercials will soon be here.

What do most people do online? The survey shows that more and more netizens are using the Internet as an entertainment and communication tool rather than for downloading information. The most accessed entertainment-related services are music and film downloads and online games.

The senior analyst and main drafter of the report Wang Enhai points out that China's online use is different from most western countries. Western netizens go on line most often for emailing, but Chinese netizens prefer online instant messaging to emailing.

"This pie chart illustrates the first thing that people do when getting online. It's interesting to find that almost 40 percent of the netizens use their instant messaging tool to chat immediately after turning on their computer."

Last but not least, the report also notes one striking feature in the current internet expansion. Web 2.0 type interactive websites are becoming increasingly popular. The proportion of netizens using the Internet for blogging, bulletin board services and uploading and sharing videos is increasing quickly.

(CRIENGLISH.com )