Growth of China's Netizens to Tell An Avalanche Effect

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 08, 2003

Growth of China's Netizens to Tell An Avalanche Effect

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China's Internet population has so far gone up to 68 million, a truly heartening news. Some insiders therefore reckon that the Internet now develops at a faster pace than before, while others take a contrary viewpoint.

As to this, Jiang Qiping, chief editor of China Internet Weekly, executive director of China Information Economics Society (CIES) and also executive deputy-head of National Information Evaluation Center (NIEC), hold that such a development pace is relatively fast, because the main indication lies in the number of Internet users and the base growth of broad band and so on. The conclusion that the Internet develops slowly perhaps refers to the Internet information service, which also shows a momentum of great rebounding at present. In terms of the growth scope of net-users, it will tend towards saturation when reaching a certain degree according to the American experience. However, such a problem hasn't yet come to show among China's net-users, implying that the rapid growth of China's Internet users will not slow down but continue to increase.

In Jiang's opinion, the speedy growth of computers and net technologies including the development of infrastructure and the continuous reduction in using cost brought about by new technologies accounts for the rise of the netizens.

Meanwhile, more choices provided by the constant increase in Internet surfing kinds and ways also form a key factor for the rise of netizens.

Besides, the Internet application is another important factor appealing to netizens. Jiang held that the rapid development of Internet industry embodies the development of information service on Internet. The development trend of the Internet actually depends on the ultimate demands of net-users, namely, only by meeting the ever-changing demands of net-users can the Internet be faster applied to all strata in society. In this sense, the development of Internet application gives a tremendous boost to the increase of net-users.

According to related statistics, net-users who once shop online or receive service via the Internet make up 40.7 percent, a big-margin increase as compared with 33.8 percent in the first half of last year. Application of the Internet not only brings it closer to the life but satisfies more of the users' demands. And so it is bound to promote the expansion of netizen scale.

Moreover, the informationization also gives an impetus to the rapid development of Internet users. In order to keep pace with the new development of the situation in the world, the Chinese government has taken the informationization construction as a significant strategy of the national economic development, and at the 15th Party Congress was proposed the strategy of "the informationization bringing along the industrialization". At the third meeting of the leading group on IT application of the country held last July, Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao explicitly suggested to energetically expand the application of information technology, make major efforts to develop the Internet and enhance the application level of the Internet. In the meanwhile, China's telecommunication operators such as China Telecom also take an active part in the informationization construction. Related reports say that the investment volume in China's broad band markets this year will rise to 4.5 billion yuan, up 67 percent.

With its high speed of Internet surfing the broad band is sure to attract more users. Jiang hence believed that China's broad band netizens will top 10 million this year, and will have grown to 21 million by 2005 according to estimates by Norson Telecom Consulting.

According to a survey conducted by the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), home net-users show a bigger proportion to 65.9 percent; people spend 4.1 days and 13 hours surfing the Internet every week on average. Time spent in Internet games is extended from 8.8 hours in the first half of this year to currently 9.9 hours every week on average. High-income users also increase constantly. In a breakdown, those who have a monthly income of over 2000 yuan grow at a fastest pace, as shown by the number from 9.16 million to 10.68 million or a 16.6-percent growth rate.

Judging from the present development pace of China's net-users, it should not be ruled out that China's netizens growth would give rise to the "avalanche effect". Moreover, with the constant perfection and development of communication terminals, the popularization of the Internet application as well as the in-depth development of the Internet concept, China's netizen contingent is bound to grow steadily.

By PD Online Staff Zhu lizhen

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