China's "Graybeard Internet Users" Growing: SurveyThe number of Chinese "graybeard Internet users" who are above 50 years old has increased to 140, 000, a latest survey indicates.The survey, conducted by Chinese Internet Information Center, shows that the number of internet users of this age group has increased by 55 percent in the past six months, accounting for 1.6 percent of the total number of Chinese Internet users. The survey also shows that 6 percent of Chinese Internet users in cities are below 18 years old and 4 percent are above 55. The report based on this survey said, "Surfing on the Internet has become a sweeping vogue in China." In a test which required the participants to spend 72 hours with Internet as their sole connection to the outside world, the oldest applicants were, 73, from Beijing, and 67, from Shanghai. However, some experts pointed out that the number of graybeard Internet-users are still insignificant compared with 126 million senior citizens in China. Min Dahong, an scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, admitted that no influential website is able to provide comprehensive service for the elderly. Statistics show that the number of Chinese Internet users has reached 11 million, and the figure would exceed 30 million by the year 2003. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |