In addition to being the world's most populous country with an estimated 1.32 billion citizens, China is headed towards overtaking the United States during the coming months as the nation with the most Internet users, according to a report released Thursday by the state run China Internet Network Information Center. The report, which is based on a countrywide survey of more than 100,000 people in China, shows that the number of Internet users during 2007 climbed by 53 percent, or 73 million users, to 210 million from a 2006 total of 137 million, leaving China with only some 8 million fewer Internet users than the U.S., which hold the number one position.

About the CINIC

The group responsible for the new report is CINIC, a government backed non-profit organization which has been producing semi-annual studies on Internet usage in China since it began operations in 1997.

The study, which counts an Internet user as a person who has gone online at least once during the month prior to the time of the survey, shows that during the last half of 2007 alone the number of Internet users in China increased by 48 million. The statistics show that some 16 percent of people in China have access to the Internet, a figure lower than the global average of 19.1 percent, and far behind the U.S. figure which tops 70 percent. The U.S., which a population of 310 million people, had some 218 million Internet users in 2007, according to the Census Bureau and research firm Nielsen NetRatings.

Study Details

About 34 percent of Internet usage in China takes place in Internet cafes, which are more popular in rural areas, where they account for about 48 percent of Internet usage, according to the study, which also notes that Internet access both at home and at work is growing rapidly in China.

2007 was the first year China saw over 200 million Internet users, due in part to the more than 29 million first time Web users who reside in rural areas, a group representing 40 percent of China's Internet users added in 2007. China's total rural Internet population stood at 52.6 million at the end of 2007, up 127.7 percent from 2006, according to the report. The growth among China's rural population has been rapid, as shown by figures from as late as January 2007 that showed Internet users living in major urban regions, such as Shanghai and Beijing, constituted a large majority of China's Internet users. The study released Thursday shows that Internet usage in urban areas grew at a slower rate of 38.2 percent.

China Moves Towards Overtaking U.S. as Most Wired Nation

In an Internet usage pattern differing from that seen in many parts of the world, the top online application among those surveyed is listening to or purchasing online music, which 86.6 percent of Internet users, or 181 million people in China, report doing. Instant messaging was the second most popular online pursuit, performed by 81.4 percent of those surveyed, while a relatively small number of Internet users in China, 56.5 percent, said they used email.

Nearly 75 percent of Internet users in China go online for reading news, while nearly that many, 72.4 percent, spend their time online using search engines such as Baidu, the country's leading search engine Web site. 76.9 percent of Internet users in China report participation in either watching or purchasing movies online, while the study shows that China is home to 49.3 million bloggers, a figure representing 23.5 percent of the country's total number of people who are online. Some analysts see China as a booming player in the global blogging phenomena. "In addition to an increase in overall numbers, you also see a rise in the number of Netizens creating content on BBS and blogs, making Chinese Netizens some of the most active participants in the Web 2.0 phenomena in the world," said Shanghai-based CIC chief executive Sam Flemming in a recent PC World article.

Leader in Mobile Device Usage

While Internet usage in China is growing rapidly, mobile phone use remains the technology area where China enjoys the number one spot globally, and as an increasing number of the mobile devices used in China become capable of going online, the world's most populous country may keep the title of "Most Wired Nation" for good once it surpasses the U.S. More and more people in China are able to use the Internet, and once online they have taken to it as a means of expression. According to Chinese government figures the country had 539.4 mobile phone users as of the end of November 2007, more than any country.

During the past six months China saw Internet access through mobile devices nearly triple, increasing by 6 million users to total approximately 50 million total. Although access fees can be higher and connection speeds lower, China nonetheless sees nearly 10 percent of its mobile phone users going online.

Internet Addiction in China

Another study, from the China Youth Association for Network Development, released a report Friday showing that China's Internet users are not immune from the problem of so-called Internet addiction, which the group defines as experiencing Internet usage which becomes harmful to a persons "life, career and interpersonal relations." The survey shows that some 9.72 percent of young Internet users in China, those between the ages of 13 and 30, are suffering from Internet addiction. Some of those in this age group, those 18 to 30, were revealed to represent 49.9 percent of China's Internet users, according to the larger CINIC study, which did not release figures for those under 18.

Another Study: China Gaming Growth Up