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Loading ...I have just finished reading the latest report from CNNIC titled 23rd Statistical Report on the Internet Development in China [pdf].
Here’s a quick summary of the salient points as released by CNNIC.
Internet Penetration Rate in China Surpassed the Global Average Level for the First Time
According to the report, by the end of 2008, the Internet penetration rate of 22.6% in China had surpassed the global average level of 21.9% for the first time. Meanwhile, the amount of Internet users in China had reached 298 million, with 279 million broadband users. And the registration number of CN domain names reached 13.572 million. The three indexes continued to rank the first in the world.
Wireless & 3G in China
The report also predicts that, with the advent of the 3G age, wireless Internet will display a trend of explosive growth. The Internet is undergoing a change from entertainment applications to the age of value-added applications. The application rates of practical use such as online job hunting and online shopping grow to a large extent, the application rates of entertainment such as online music and online video display the trend of falling.
NOTE: 3G is still undergoing beta testing in various regions throughout China and 3G’s value propositions are still being explored for Chinese Audiences.
Mobile Internet Users Exceeded 100 Million, Explosive Growth Will Come
According to the report, as carriers paid more attention and the hardware cost of mobile phones kept falling, Internet users accessing the Internet via mobile phones in 2008 doubled, reaching 117 million.
NOTE: Mobile Internet users data must be viewed as an “unfiltered” figure as access is not defined [duration/activity/frequency etc].
China’s Online Population and Online Commercial Value Has Doubled
- Size of Internet users in China has been close to 300 million, increasing by 41.9% from 2007
- Internet penetration rate has reached 22.6%, slightly higher than the global average level (21.9%)
- In the last 6 months, 90.6% of Chinese Internet users accessed the Internet via broadband, [270 million Chinese Internet users accessed the Internet via broadband] - an increase of over 100 million from 2007
- Amount of registrations of CN domain names increased by 50.8% from 2007, and the amount of websites under .CN increased by 120.3%.
The Urban-Rural Gap
By the end of 2008, the size of rural Internet users had reached 84.6 million, increasing by 31.9 million from 2007, with the growth rate surpassing 60%, far exceeding that of urban Internet users.
