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China Internet users hit 111 million in 2005
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-18 14:41
The number of Web users in China, the world's second
largest Internet market, grew by 18 percent in 2005 to 111 million, the Economic
Daily reported on Wednesday.
Chinese personal computer users surf the
internet in Beijing in this March 10, 2005 file photo. The number of Web
users in China, the world's second largest Internet market, grew by 18
percent in 2005 to 111 million, the Economic Daily reported on January 18,
2006. [AP] |
Some 8.5 percent of the country's 1.3 billion people now had access to the
Internet, the newspaper reported, citing a survey released by the China Internet
Network Information Center.
State media previously predicted 120 Chinese million would be surfing the Web
by the end of 2005 as computers find their way into more homes and domestic
telecoms networks grow.
The 2005 gains represented an acceleration from 2004, when the number of
Internet users grew 16 percent to 94 million.
More than half of China's Web population -- or about 64 million people --
accessed the Web via broadband connections, suggesting a 50 percent increase
versus 2004 as China strongly promotes the development of its broadband
networks.
China is the world's No. 2 PC market, with nearly 16 million units shipped in
2004 and the number expected to have grown another 13 percent last year,
according to data tracking firm International Data Corp.
PC makers, such as industry leaders Lenovo Group Ltd., Founder Group and Dell
Inc., shipped 5.2 million units in the third quarter of 2005, according to IDC.
The growth of the Internet has also spawned a growing number of local online
players, including Yahoo-invested e-commerce firm Alibaba.com, Web portal Sina
Corp., online game firm Shanda Interactive Entertainment and online search firm
Baidu.com Inc..
Major mutlinationals attracted by the market's big growth potential have also
set up shop in China, including online auctioneer eBay Inc., online retailer
Amazon.com Inc. and online search leader Google Inc..
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