INTERNET USAGE IN CHINESE RURAL AREAS -
2007
On September 7, 2007, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)
published “Survey Report on the Internet Usage in Chinese Rural Area”. This is
the first full scale survey report published in China regarding the macro
Internet development situation in rural areas of China. The report shows that
the number of Internet users in Chinese rural areas has exceeded 37 million,
and that their major application is online entertainment, which equals
the level in urban areas.
The Digital Divide between urban and rural areas is still obvious. The
report shows that by the end of June 2007, the number of the rural Internet
users reached 37.41 million. The penetration rate of the Internet for all
737 million rural residents is only 5.1%. Meanwhile, China has 125 million
urban Internet users, with an urban penetration rate of 21.6%. However,
comparing with the statistics of December 2006, the gap has been gradually
narrowed. China had 23.1 million rural Internet users in 2006, with a
penetration rate of 3.1%.
The main bottleneck is that at year end of 2006, every 100 households in
rural areas possess only 2.7 computers, which is far behind the figure for
urban areas (47.2 computers). Comparing with the figures for the same period
in 2005, the computer number increased from 0.6 in every 100 rural households,
while the urban households now have 5.7 computers more. The report also
indicates their reasons for not using the Internet. The main one is “have no
facility”, which accounted for 39.5% of all non-users in rural areas, while
this proportion in urban areas is only 26.6%. Due to the lack of household
computers, 53.9% of rural users surf online in Internet cafes, resulting in
a much higher figure that even exceeds the national average Internet café
surfing rate of 37.2%. Insufficient Internet infrastructures in rural areas
has become the major bottleneck that blocking the development of the Internet
usage in Chinese rural areas.
Comparing with urban users, the application level of rural Internet users
is less advanced. The report shows that 66.5% of rural users read online news,
while the proportion in urban areas is 81.5%, which is 15 percentage points
higher; 65.8% of the rural users use search engines while the rate in urban
areas is 13 percentage points higher (78.4%). Besides, much less users in
rural areas have ever touched online purchasing, online banking and online
stock trading.
It was found in the survey that rural users and urban users have similar
access level for online entertainment. The rates of listening online music,
playing online games and watching online movies and TV series of rural users
are respectively 68.9%, 47.1% and 60.9%, comparing to 68.4%, 47.0% and 61.2%
of urban users.
The survey also involved rural migrants. The statistics show that rural
migrant users reached 20 million and that most of them access the Internet
in Internet cafes or through their mobile phones. For that matter, they
averagely pay 86.6 RMB Yuan per month, that is 11 Yuan higher than the
average level of the total Internet users (75 RMB Yuan) and even higher
than the total non-student users monthly cost of 80.8 RMB Yuan.
In conclusion, along with the progress of rural informatization access
in China, the Internet has become a substantial part of the building of a
new-type rural area. 37 million rural users are bringing vast demand and
real business opportunities. No one doubts the rural area in China will become
a great Internet market.
CHINA INTERNET REPORT -
2006
January 23, 2007 - According to the "19th Statistical Survey Report
on Internet Development in China" published today by CNNIC, Internet users in
China have reached 137 million, approximately 10.4% of China’s population, at
the end of year 2006.
The Internet penetration in Beijing exceeded 30% for the first time. Regarding
broadband, 75.9% of Chinese Internet users, about 104 million people, use broadband
connections that include xDSL, Cable Modem and leased line. Mobile phone Internet
users have also expanded and now total 17 million subscribers.
China’s Internet users increased by 26 million in one year, comparing
with December, 2005, showing a growth rate of 23.4%. This compares very positively
with the growth rate in previous years (18.2% in 2004 and 18.1% in 2005).
The number of registered .CN domain names in China increased remarkably to
1,803,393 - an increase of 64.4% in just one year. Total domain names in China
now amount to 4,109,020, which is 1.16 million more than 6 months ago, with an
average growth of 200 thousand per month. The report results show that at the
end of 2006, China had 4.47 billion domestic webpages and 122,306 GB of local
webpage contents. The annual growth rates of these two are 86.3% and 81.7%
respectively. Along with the vast growth of these domestic Internet resources,
the total websites and IPv4 addresses in China also grow rapidly and reached
843 thousand and 98 million respectively.
CHINA INTERNET MARKET -
2004
October 27, 2004 - With a population of 1.3 billion, China is
the biggest country in the world. The Chinese NIC estimates that
China's Internet population grew 28 percent over the past year to
87 million, while use of broadband in that country is soaring.
The number of PCs sold in China last year reached 22 million (2nd
after U.S.), the number of cell phones sold in 2003 reached 150
million (1st in the world), and there were 1.7 billion instant
messages sent. The number of broadband users has reached 31.10
million, an increase of 13.70 million over the past 12 months (an
increase of 78.7% over a 6 month period).
China's online shopping market was worth 4.2 billion yuan
(US$507.5 million) last year according to market research firm,
Shanghai iResearch, and is expected to double this year.
Therefore it is no surprise that global Internet giants --
including eBay Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. -- have all
taken the China plunge lately, paying a combined US$375 million
to acquire domestic start-ups in China, according to the China
Business Weekly.
China is both a buyer and seller of products and services
worldwide. China is a major global economic force and will grow
dramatically in the foreseeable future. The number of Internet
users in China increases by 800,000 a week, and in July
PricewaterhouseCoopers projected that China’s media sector
would achieve a 25 percent growth in revenue through 2008 due to
an increase in online advertising.
Even with statistics like these, marketers must note one
interesting challenge for selling to China’s consumers
online. China has a very cash-oriented economy -- very few people
have credit cards -- which makes transactions with customers
outside a particular locality difficult. According to the China
Business Weekly, the nation's credit card holders now number 2
million, a fraction of its 1.3 billion people.
There are, however, many initiatives taking place to penetrate
into this market. For example, online travel agent Ctrip.com
recently announced the launch of a travel credit card with China
Merchants Bank Co Ltd. Additionally, companies such as EBay's
Paypal online payment unit has hired consultants to figure out
how to tap into the Chinese market.
It's time for global firms to market to Chinese companies and
consumers via the Internet. As we've all seen from the emergence
of the English language Internet, first-movers have a significant
advantage over those that follow. For marketers wishing to
penetrate this market, the following elements should be
considered:
1. Web Site Design
This could mean simply a translation of Web sites into
Chinese, or re-designing them completely in order to be
culturally and aesthetically correct.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Just like with English language search engines, users can
increase their chances of being among the top hits on Chinese
language search engines by altering and optimizing their web
content.
3. Online Auctions
The world leader eBay has already entered the Chinese
market, and there are other global Internet auction sites that
marketers may want to use.
4. Online Advertising
China's Web sites carry advertising (including Google-like
adwords) just like English language Web sites. You need local
advertising to enter this specific market.
5. Online Public Relations
There are several Chinese print and electronic publications that
receive press releases via email. This option should be
considered for additional publicity.
