Internet in China
China leads the world with 298 million Internet users, an increase of 42 percent from
2007 to the end of 2008. 29 More astoundingly, in this same time period more than 90
percent of these users had broadband access, a spike of over 100 million. 30 China also
has the world’s biggest cell phone market, with some 583.5 million subscribers. 31 The
rural-urban divide that influences many gaps in the informatization of the national
economy is closing, but it remains substantial. Rural areas and the poorer western
provinces are beginning to gain ground, against a national Internet penetration rate
of 22.6 percent. 32 At the end of 2008, rural Internet users made up almost a third of
the entire online population, a jump of over 60 percent. 33 While many of the poorer
and western provinces such as Yunnan, Gansu, and Guizhou continue to have penetration rates of less than 10 percent, they also have considerable growth rates, upward
of 50 percent. 34 Driven by the policy goal that ‘‘every village has access to the telephone and every township has access to the Internet’’ by 2010, infrastructure development has expanded broadband Internet access to 92 percent of townships. 35 Gender
is also an important demographic factor in the urban-rural divide, with rural male
users outnumbering women by 15 percent. Internet users between the ages of 10
and 19 gained ground in 2008, increasing to 35 percent of all users and overtaking
the 20–29 age group to become the leading demographic using the Internet. 36
Web sites registered in China are another exponential growth area, increasing by
91.4 percent since 2007. 37 Social media platforms continue to take hold: 210 million
Internet users in China have visited video-sharing sites, 54 percent have blogs (although only 35 percent of those update them at least once every six months), almost
a third participate in online discussion forums, and 19 percent belong to social networking sites. 38 Chinese netizens have access to a wide variety of well-developed Internet platforms for the domestic market, which have typically outpaced foreign services,
such as search engines (Baidu’s market share is at 63 percent compared to Google’s
28 percent), online portals (the top four portals—Sohu, Sina, Tencent, and Netease—
claim 73 percent of sector revenue), bulletin board services (BBS) and discussion
forums, online video sites, blogs, social networking (the service Kaixin has an estimated 30 million daily users), and booming business-to-customer e-commerce. 39 Since
2006, when only China Netcom and China Telecom were permitted to offer pilot
commercial VoIP services in selected cities, 40 the number of VoIP service providers has
reached 3,000, mainly in Beijing and Shanghai, with the number of users reaching
80 million. 41
In 2008, China’s telecom regulator, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII),
was dissolved and its functions absorbed into the new Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology (MIIT). 42 In addition to the MII mandate to regulate
China
453
China leads the world with 298 million Internet users, an increase of 42 percent from
2007 to the end of 2008. 29 More astoundingly, in this same time period more than 90
percent of these users had broadband access, a spike of over 100 million. 30 China also
has the world’s biggest cell phone market, with some 583.5 million subscribers. 31 The
rural-urban divide that influences many gaps in the informatization of the national
economy is closing, but it remains substantial. Rural areas and the poorer western
provinces are beginning to gain ground, against a national Internet penetration rate
of 22.6 percent. 32 At the end of 2008, rural Internet users made up almost a third of
the entire online population, a jump of over 60 percent. 33 While many of the poorer
and western provinces such as Yunnan, Gansu, and Guizhou continue to have penetration rates of less than 10 percent, they also have considerable growth rates, upward
of 50 percent. 34 Driven by the policy goal that ‘‘every village has access to the telephone and every township has access to the Internet’’ by 2010, infrastructure development has expanded broadband Internet access to 92 percent of townships. 35 Gender
is also an important demographic factor in the urban-rural divide, with rural male
users outnumbering women by 15 percent. Internet users between the ages of 10
and 19 gained ground in 2008, increasing to 35 percent of all users and overtaking
the 20–29 age group to become the leading demographic using the Internet. 36
Web sites registered in China are another exponential growth area, increasing by
91.4 percent since 2007. 37 Social media platforms continue to take hold: 210 million
Internet users in China have visited video-sharing sites, 54 percent have blogs (although only 35 percent of those update them at least once every six months), almost
a third participate in online discussion forums, and 19 percent belong to social networking sites. 38 Chinese netizens have access to a wide variety of well-developed Internet platforms for the domestic market, which have typically outpaced foreign services,
such as search engines (Baidu’s market share is at 63 percent compared to Google’s
28 percent), online portals (the top four portals—Sohu, Sina, Tencent, and Netease—
claim 73 percent of sector revenue), bulletin board services (BBS) and discussion
forums, online video sites, blogs, social networking (the service Kaixin has an estimated 30 million daily users), and booming business-to-customer e-commerce. 39 Since
2006, when only China Netcom and China Telecom were permitted to offer pilot
commercial VoIP services in selected cities, 40 the number of VoIP service providers has
reached 3,000, mainly in Beijing and Shanghai, with the number of users reaching
80 million. 41
In 2008, China’s telecom regulator, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII),
was dissolved and its functions absorbed into the new Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology (MIIT). 42 In addition to the MII mandate to regulate
China
453