It may have have slipped your attention, but there are a lot of people that live in China. I know that is not a news flash, but what is catching some attention is the amount of Internet usage there is in China. Here are some eyebrow-raising statistics that were released by China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC):
- 210 million Chinese accessed the Internet last year, up from 152 million in 2006
- One third of these Internet users visited via a cybercafe
- 16% of China’s population is now online (compared to 75% in the U.S.)
Of course, the Chinese government still is a huge proponent of censorship. Doing a technology search, there are currently at least 50 dissidents that are in Chinese prisons for violating online censorship laws.
Although many facets of technology are still behind in China, the raw mass of numbers makes the Chinese a growing online force.
