China has biggest web population

Last Modified: 26 Jul 2008
Source: PA News

China's booming internet population has surpassed the US to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on web use, according to government data.

The latest figure on web use at the end of June is a 56% increase from a year ago, the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) said. It said the share of the Chinese public using the internet is still just 19.1%, leaving more room for rapid growth.

The US had an estimated 223.1 million internet users in June, according to research firm Nielsen Online. The Pew Internet and American Life Project puts US online penetration at 71%.

"This is the first time the number has drastically surpassed the US, becoming the world's number one," a CNNIC statement said.

The communist government encourages internet use for business and education but tries to block access to websites deemed pornographic or subversive. Web surfers have been jailed for posting or emailing material that criticises communist rule or is deemed a violation of vague national security laws.

Beijing blocks access to websites run by dissidents, human rights groups and some foreign news media. Web surfers were blocked from seeing Google's YouTube and other foreign sites with video footage of anti-government protests in Tibet in March.

That same month, the government said it would shut down 25 Chinese video sites and punish 32 others for violating new rules against carrying content that is deemed pornographic, violent or a threat to national security.

In financial terms, China's market lags those of the US, South Korea and other economies. But online commerce, video sharing and other businesses are growing rapidly and have raised millions of dollars from investors.

The commercial boom has produced success stories such as games site Tencent.com and search engine Baidu.com, which are competing with foreign rivals for local market share. Baidu said its profits in the latest quarter soared 87% over the year-earlier period to 265 million yuan (£19.3 million).

Total revenues for China's Internet companies soared to 40.5 billion yuan (£2.95 billion) in 2007, up 48.6% from the previous year, the research firm Analysys International reported. It said revenues should keep growing at an annual rate of at least 30% in coming years, reaching 137.5 billion yuan by 2010.

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