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China's Internet population has overtaken the United States' to
become the world's biggest with about 220 million web surfers, a
research firm said Friday.
The Chinese figure dates from late February,
when the US online population was estimated at about 217 million,
according to BDA China, a Beijing-based technology consulting and
research firm.
"There are two major drivers. One is
continued strong growth in broadband users. The other is the
popularity of Internet cafes in relatively small cities," said
Liu Bin, an analyst with BDA China.
The United States has occupied the number one
position since the birth of the Internet as a network of computers
under the auspices of the US Department of Defence in 1969, the
state-run China Daily newspaper said.
But by the end of 2008, China is expected to
have 280 million Internet users, according to BDA China.
That will be a 33 percent rise from the 210
million China had at the end of last year, according to the China
Internet Network Information Centre, a government-backed
institution.
In a country as big as China with a population
of over 1.3 billion people, different factors are key to rising
Internet use in various regions.
In the cities, growth is boosted by constant
infrastructure upgrading carried out by telecom operators, which
enables more and more families to get access to broadband.
Already 160 million Chinese use broadband
Internet, according to estimates from BDA China.
The situation in the countryside -- home to a
majority of China's population but only about one fourth of its
Internet users -- is different.
"There will be more users using Internet
cafes. In some small towns, many users don't have broadband access
at home, but will go to Internet cafes to play online games,"
said BDA China's Liu.
The fast-growing online population has made the
Internet a new forum for average Chinese to express opinions in a
free-wheeling way rarely seen on the strictly government-controlled
traditional media.
The appeal of the web has stirred up Beijing's
fears about potential social unrest, and President Hu Jintao called
last year for efforts to "purify" the Internet.
The latest example of government crackdowns on
Internet use is an announcement in January that only
state-controlled entities would be allowed to operate websites that
post audio-visual content.
While the government is concerned about the
Internet's subversive potential, its overall attitude is somewhat
ambivalent, as it also hails its ability to boost the knowledge and
skills of the Chinese population.
Companies also have ambiguous feelings about the
Internet, but for another reason -- they find it hard to make money
on it.
Obstacles to a more lucrative Chinese Internet
include fundamental issues such as reliable and safe payment
systems, according to observers.
"In December 2007, the online shopping rate
of Chinese netizens was 22.1 percent," the China Internet
Network Information Centre said in its latest half-yearly report
from January.
"By contrast, the United States saw an
online shopping rate of as high as 71 percent in August 2006."
Overall, finding a way to turn the huge numbers
of Internet users into profit is a major task, observers argue.
"While the volume of communications users
will continue to rise, the focus in China will increasingly shift to
deriving greater value from these consumers," BDA China's
chairman Duncan Clark told the China Daily.
-- AFP
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