The Digital Dragon

The January 2009 CNNIC report on China’s Internet indicates:
By end of December China had 298 million Internet users and became the world’s biggest “net nation”. Online growth 41.9%.

Compare with US around 246 million by end of 2008 (Internetworldstats).

Analysts have previously expected the total to grow by about 18% per annum and hit 490 million by 2012.

Usage in the countryside is growing much faster than in urban areas, 60.8% year-on-year compared to 35.6% in cities.

Net penetration in the US stands at 71% compared with 22.6% in China.

About 95% of online users connect via broadband.

CNNIC reports that 117.6 million people accessed the internet using their mobile phones last year, up 133% from 2007.

Bloggers have increased to +162 million.

There are more than 500 million mobile phone users, a number growing by
roughly 60 million per annum.