CHINA’S ONLINE population has leapt to 338 million internet users, a significant 13.4 per cent rise this year despite the global economic slowdown, with much of the increase coming from people accessing the internet in rural areas using their mobile phones.
While “the Great Firewall of China” does much to control what the average webizen can access in China, strict monitoring of online activity has done little to dampen the ardour of the Chinese for the internet’s benefits.
China now has more webizens than the entire population of the United States, about 307 million, according to a new report by the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Centre. Penetration remains low – only one quarter of the population have internet access in China, compared to 64 per cent in Ireland or say about 70 per cent of the US population, which shows that the Chinese market is still ripe for growth.
There were 2.4 million internet users in Ireland as of March this year.
The strong rise in the number of webizens was driven by the robust economy and expansion of internet access around the country.
In China, internet use on mobile phones has increased by 32 per cent since the beginning of the year to reach 155 million, with rural dwellers driving this increase, according to the report.
People in rural areas are usually last to get high-speed internet access via fixed lines because it is expensive to install the lines and broadband exchanges.
However, mobile phone masts can cover a huge geographic area comparatively cheaply, and although their connection speed is comparatively low, it can be applied almost immediately. For this reason, China is focusing on 3G technology, which allows speedy surfing via mobile phones.
Rural internet users reached 95.65 million in the period, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of China’s online population, according to the report.
Liu Bing, author of the report, said government efforts to provide subsidies to rural PC buyers and increase investment in basic rural infrastructure encouraged more consumers from remote areas to go online.