Internet in China
The Internet today is
mostly used for such applications as email, browsing, research and
online chat. Internet telephony and online shopping are amongst the
emerging trends. The Internet is increasingly used as a major source
of information. The amount of time spent online is limited by the
combined costs of Internet access and telephone charges. Although
the Internet has experienced booming growth, the diffusion of this
powerful communication technology has not been even throughout the
world. Some countries have achieved a high penetration of Internet
host computers, while many others are in the early stages of
adoption.
Internet development
in China in recent years has attracted interest and attention from
the industry, academia and policy makers. Over the past few years,
internet development in China has been phenomenal. With about 10
million Internet users this year, China is now considered the
biggest Internet market in Asia Pacific outside Japan. There are
various factors operating at different levels that influence the
development and adoption of Chinas Internet. The rapid expansion of
the telecommunications infrastructure in China has contributed to
the country's Internet development. Since 1989, telecommunications
in China has been expanding at an annual rate of 30-50. Each year,
about 10 million phone lines are added to the nations public
network. The emerging personal computer market in China has also
facilitated the diffusion of Internet.
At the policy and
regulatory level, the Chinese government is determined to build its
own Internet as part of its National Infrastructure Initiatives, and
is, therefore, taking a proactive role in promoting the development
of the Internet for the informatization of Chinas economy.
Meanwhile, the Chinese central government is the most restrictive in
content control and suppression of political speech on the Internet.
It is generally
agreed that Chinas Internet has come a long way in a short time.
The promising signs are its economic boom, construction of the
national information infrastructure, sharply escalating PC sales,
while problems facing Chinas Internet include high entry costs, low
tele-density and PC penetration, slow speed and congested networks,
high illiteracy rate, inadequate funding and administrative
inefficiency. The Internet has often been heralded as posing threats
to nondemocratic rule; therefore, how the Internet and nondemocratic
rule co-exist in the case of China is an issue of interest. China's
embrace and attempted control of the Internet illustrates a dilemma
faced by Chinas leadership: economic informatization and
information control.
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