In December 2007, there were already some 210 million Chinese surfing the web. According to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information quoted by Chinese state media, China now numbers some 250 million Internet-users since July – that’s 30 million more than in the United States. 

The Internet explosion in China has yet to come as the Internet penetration rate – the ratio between the number of Internet users and the total population – is still quite low, about 16%. The US has a much smaller margin of progression as approximately 71% of the population now has access to the Internet. 

Internet trends in China

About 50% of young Internet-users in China describe themselves as “addicted” to the Internet while 25% say they cannot go without the Internet for more than 24 hours, according to an IAC/JWT report carried out on a sample of 1,100 Chinese and 1,000 US Web-users aged 16 to 25.

“One of the biggest differences between American and Chinese youngsters is in attitudes toward anonymity,” says Tom Doctoroff, CEO of greater China for J.Walter Thompson’s (JWT) and author of the book 'Billions: The New Chinese Consumer'.  "In the US, with its cult of celebrity, young Americans see the Internet as a way of getting known, of building their personal brand; many regard the Internet as a kind of personal broadcasting medium," says Doctoroff. "But whereas publicizing your name, face and opinions is seen as a step toward success in the US, in China it has been a surefire way of veering into dangerous territory. So for young Chinese, the Internet is the ideal place to air opinions and hear what others think without crossing the line."

The increasing number of Internet users reflects how China has opened up its economy to the world over the last years. Since 2000, the number of Chinese connected to the Web has increased by 833%, a direct consequence of the increase of salaries and the Chinese government policy of pushing the price of IT equipment down.

According to China state media, the average monthly salary of a Chinese employee in the cities has reached 500 Euros (5516 Yuan).

In 2007 alone, 28 millions IT units (PCs, notebooks or servers) were sold for a total of 13.6 billion Euros, a figure up by 19.7% compared with 2006, according to China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID).

Early 2008, Chinese buyers could purchase a desktop computer for as little as 370 Euros (4,000 Yuan) and a notebook computer for 650 Euros (7,000 Yuan).

The sales of IT equipment should continue on their upward trend and double over the next four years; the CCID estimates sales should reach 24.5 billion euros in 2012.