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China's Internet Usage Tops US Figures

By Kerry Finch

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 24Oct2008
Word count: 554
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If e-commerce were simply a numbers game, then China may have gotten first place for having the most number of Internet and broadband users, as well as the most number of top-level domain name registrations on the planet.

The statistics are impressive as it appears that China may have overtaken the numbers provided by the US for so many years in just one clean stroke. In its latest report entitled, "22nd China Internet Development Report", the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) disclosed that as of June 2008 there are 253 million Internet users in China with 214 million of them being broadband users. Both numbers are currently the largest in the world.

Another interesting item appearing in the report is the number of CN domain names registered, which at 12.188 million makes it the highest among top-level domain registrations in the world.

Changing demographics. In the not so distant past, it was reported that the average Internet user in China was young, highly educated and affluent, with lots of disposable income to spare. But with the increasing number of net users and the wider reach of broadband connections, the face of the average Internet user is changing.

The CNNIC report shows that while most of the net citizens are young, 39% of them are high school graduates. Thus, the websites that are popular in China are music, news, blogs/personal space, video, search engine, email, online games, and online shopping sites. News sites have become popular as a result of the major events in China such as the Wenchuan earthquake and the Beijing Olympics.

During the aftermath of the Wenchuan earthquake, for instance, government authorities issued an order calling for a few days of nationwide mourning. Websites were asked to adopt a black mourning theme and to suspend gaming and other fun-filled activities on the net. Most users accessed the Internet to view the latest news updates on the rescue efforts after the earthquake. This move is a clear indication of the massive reach and influence that the Internet already has in China.

While the demographics may have changed slightly, online shopping still rates high among the usual online activities, particularly in the more progressive cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Shanghai reportedly has the largest number of online shoppers. The numbers are expected to improve in other cities as well with the growing availability and acceptance of online payment systems.

To date, there are 23.7 million users of the online payment system, a 71% jump from the previous year.

In addition to the acceptance of online payment systems, an emerging trend that is about to change the statistics of China e-commerce soon will be the use of the mobile phone to access the Internet. This development is expected to popularize Internet use in rural areas that suffer from lack of ordinary PC access.

While the actual figures representing Internet usage may already seem to be high, the Internet penetration rate is only 19.1%, which is still below the global average of 21%. This means that there is still room for growth in Internet usage as more users in rural areas may now connect to the net using mobile phones.

With encouraging numbers, increasing social acceptance and developing trends, China's internet economy is certainly going in the right direction.

Internet marketers simply cannot afford to be without a good understanding of the lucrative market that China offers. The number of Chinese internet users is mindblowing and Chinese eWhispers shows how this opens up huge opportunities for westerners.

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