The World Bank and Peking University Public Policy Institute (which is a fairly serious couple of institutions) have together issued a report which says information and communication technologies are vital for China to sustain its rapid economic growth and for it to become an innovation-driven society.
Who could argue?
However, the report says high Internet fees, insufficient regulation, dependence on foreign technology and a lack of talent are the four main factors that block China’s information industry development. Coming as it does from such an authoritative source, this is a great worry and something, no doubt, cause the government to revise its policies.
The report, entitled ‘China’s Information Revolution: Managing the Economic and Social Transformation’, says that the price of Internet use in China accounts for 10% of the total income level. This is almost 10 times that of the developed countries, and the high price is leading to an increasing digital gap between urban residents and rural groups in the country.
China has the world’s largest telecom market and second-largest Internet user population. By the end of 2006, it had more than 144 million Internet users and 480 mobile phone subscribers.
Source: China Tech News