Rural Internet market has great potential for growth

China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) has released a report on Internet development in China in 2008: Investigation Report on Internet in Rural Area. The number of people connected in rural areas reached 52.62 million by the end of last year, an annual increase rate of 127.7%, much higher than the 38.2% annual increase rate in cities.

There is an emerging force to drive the continuous growth of Internet in China. Investigation shows that 40% (29.17 million) of the 73 million new users come from rural areas.

However, the development gap of Internet between rural areas and cities is still great.

The prevalence rate of Internet in cities is 27.3%.
In rural areas 7.1%.
Reasons for this are:

The education and income level of residents in rural areas are relatively low
Lack of knowledge about computers and the Internet, 53.3%
Lack of equipment to access Internet, 23.1%
The average weekly use of Internet by rural areas users is 12.3 hours, 5.6 hours less than in cities.

A key project led by the government and driven by various parties to support the telecommunication and Internet in rural areas is underway.
Source: China Economic Net