Massive growth in internet use in China
Amazing, when I started in the internet business in China, there were 3 million users, now 10 years later the number is 210 million!
This coupled with the increased mobile deployment to over 500 million mobile users means the future is bright for technology based solutions to help microfinance in China.
(Associated Press via NewsEdge) The Chinese government said its internet population has soared to 210 million people, putting it on track to surpass the US online community this year to become the world’s largest.
The official China internet Network Information Center, also known as CNNIC, said the online population grew 53%, from 137 million reported at the same time last year.
According to the government’s Xinhua News Agency, China is only 5 million behind the US, a figure consistent with some American estimates.
China still lags the US in many respects, however.
Xinhua placed China’s online penetration rate at 16%, the point Americans were at in the mid-1990s.
According to the Pew internet and American Life Project, 75% of American adults are now online; penetration is even higher when teens are included. (China’s stats cover Chinese 6 and older.)
“We’re two countries at very different points along the adoption curve,” said John Horrigan, Pew’s associate director. “China is approximately 15 years behind.”
Several other differences between the two markets mean internet penetration has different meaning in China and the US.
First, cybercafes serve as the main entry to the internet for many Chinese unable to afford a computer at home. One-third of Chinese internet users surf through cybercafes, according to Xinhua, while Pew found that 93% of US internet users have access at home.
© 2008 The Associated Press