China tops half a billion internet users

China recorded about 505 million users at the end of November last year, Reuters reported, citing the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). The internet penetration rate increased 3.4% from the end of 2010 to 37.7% by November this year, still much less than the 75.5% rate in Japan and 77.3% in South Korea, as of January 2010. The number of microblog users surged to 300 million at the end of November from 195 million at the end of June, according to the CNNIC report released late last month. On December 16th, the Beijing municipal government said it would tighten its oversight of internet microblogs, ordering company operators to require users to register accounts with their real names within three months. Sina (SINA.Nasdaq), China’s largest microblogging operator, said it would figure out a means to implement the rule so that users’ identity could be verified.