dasa 0 Report post Posted May 3, 2002 China's net usage leaps to second in world By Will Knight China now ranks second in the world for home internet use and could leapfrog the US as the biggest online nation in the next few years. Interviews with Chinese householders conducted by US-based internet analysis firm Nielsen//NetRatings suggests that 56.6 million Chinese people now use the internet at home. This promotes China to second place in the world rankings, ahead of Japan, which has 51.3 million users, Germany (32.2 million) and the UK (29.0 million). The US still leads the pack by some way with 166 million users. But the survey also concludes that Chinese surfers could outnumber those in the US by two to one within the next three to four years. The Chinese Ministry of Information internet reports that subscriptions are increasing at a rate of five to six per cent each month. If this rate is sustained, home internet use could reach 257 million by 2005. But much will depend on an increase in the number of homes that have fixed telephone connections. Currently, just 36 percent of homes in China have a permanent phone line. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
