[photopress:It_internet_cafe_most_users.jpg,full,alignright]BDA China, a Beijing-based technology consulting and research firm, claims that China’s Internet population has overtaken the United States’ to become the world’s biggest with about 220 million web surfers.
Liu Bin, an analyst with BDA China said, ‘There are two major drivers. One is continued strong growth in broadband users. The other is the popularity of Internet cafes in relatively small cities.’
And that is key to the situation.
Comparing China to the United States leads to all sort of false surmises. The US has occupied the number one position since the birth of the Internet as a network of computers under the auspices of the US Department of Defence in 1969 as Arpanet.
While China may have the large numbers for them to be of any value they have to be dissected. And the fact is the growth in figures cones, at the moment, for Internet cafes, and the use in Internet cafes is very heavily skewed to multi-player games.
This is changing starting with the big cities and spreading outwards. But the Internet cafe still accounts for a major slab on Internet use which is simply not the case in the United States.
Liu Bin said, ‘There will be more users using Internet cafes. In some small towns, many users don’t have broadband access at home, but will go to Internet cafes to play online games.’
This is true.
On the other hand the blog count is astounding and some figures put it so high that every other Chinese Internet user has a blog. Which cannot be true but suggests the size of the issue.
Beijing is worried about the Internet. President Hu Jintao called last year for efforts to ‘purify’ the Internet. Now, in theory, only state-controlled entities will be allowed to operate websites that post audio-visual content. Yet it is proud of the fact that, properly used, the Internet can improve the knowledge and skills of the Chinese population.
One final point. In China it is not easy to make money from the Internet. You have to understand the market and work outside the envelope.
The China Internet Network Information Centre said in its latest half-yearly report from January: ‘In December 2007, the online shopping rate of Chinese netizens was 22.1%.
‘By contrast, the United States saw an online shopping rate of as high as 71 percent in August 2006.’
Sure. And you would find a ratio something like that in the use of credit cards. But that is now. Ten years ago in rural parts of Germany no one would accept a credit card. Cash or nothing.
Now it would be difficult to find a gasthaus that does not take credit cards.
China is still moving through a massive information and financial and social revolution. To say China has the most Internet users is pretty meaningless unless you specify the way the Internet is being used.
Source: AFP