Internet user
BDA, a research firm , has said that China has surpassed the United States in terms of Internet users.
Liu Bin, an analyst at research firm BDA, said, ‘Internet users in China reached 210 million by the end of last year, very close to the 216 million users in the United States. According to our calculations, China has already replaced the United States as the country with most Internet users by the end of last month.’
BDA, however, said the US still far outstrips China in the value of Internet content, advertising and e-commerce.
According to CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), China rose to the second position by the end of 2002, when its Internet users surpassed 59.1 million.
The government-backed research institute had announced in January that the number reached 210 million by the end of last year, an increase of 73 million, or 53.3%, over 2006. It predicts the number to reach 280 million by the end of this year.
The new users will mainly come from China’s small cities and rural areas, where Internet access and personal computers are still not that widespread.
There is still plenty of room to expand. According to CNNIC, China’s Internet penetration rate was a paltry 16% last year, lower than the world average of 19.1%.
Source: China.com
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