Growth of Web Use in China Slows
BEIJING -- The growth of Internet use in China is slowing, apparently as a result of increased government control of access points like Internet cafes as well as a boom in text-messaging by cellphones.
The China Internet Network Information Center, a semiofficial think tank, said the number of Chinese Internet users at the end of June was 87 million, up 9.4% from the end of last year, and 28% more than in June 2003. Both of those percentage increases are the smallest since collection of statistics on Chinese Internet use began in late 1997.
As of the end of June, just 6.6% of Chinese regularly access the Internet, compared with more than 70% of Americans. In the year ended in June 2003, Internet use grew 48%, while in the year ended in June 2002 it expanded 72%. China, home to 20% of the world's population, accounts for 12% of Internet users world-wide.
While the majority of Chinese Internet users -- some 51 million -- still use dial-up connections, broadband connectivity has skyrocketed, the study found. The number of broadband users at the end of June grew 79% from the start of this year to 31 million and rose more than threefold from June 2003.
Industry executives attribute the overall slowdown to the Chinese government's tighter management of publicly accessible computers and to the growing prevalence of mobile phones doubling as data and message devices.
"We may be seeing collateral damage from stricter government controls," says Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China, a Beijing telecommunications consultancy.
Since Internet cafes reopened after closing in the wake of a 2002 fire that killed 19 in a Beijing basement, the government has banned minors from what were once prime sites for Web-surfing and online gaming. While enforcement varies by locale, all Internet-cafe users must present identification cards before entering, and cafes face an elaborate system of registration. Minors are now virtually absent from cafes in big cities. Such controls hamper growth in a country where there are more than 2.3 times as many Internet users as Internet-ready computers.
But the slowdown also may reflect the spread of another booming technology -- cellphones. With more than 300 million cellphone users in China, the use of short messaging service, or SMS, "has emerged as the affordable and democratic way to reach someone in real time," says Hu Wei, Internet analyst for BDA China. With nearly one billion text messages getting sent each day, more and more Chinese are turning to their cellphones not just to chat with friends, but to receive updates and other content they might otherwise seek online.
"This seems to be as much about simple economics as it is about political pressure," says Mr. Clark. "The early appeal [of the Internet] has worn off, as people have come to value the immediacy and mobility of their phones."
Wang Yi, a 19-year-old bartender at Beijing's First Cafe, says she only occasionally goes online to communicate with parents in her native Henan province. "My parents have e-mail, but why go online when I can just send them an SMS?" she asks.
Despite enhanced government controls on politically sensitive Web content, the number of Web sites registered in China increased 32% from a year earlier to 626,000. Not surprisingly, more than 84% of these are registered in China's prosperous east coast. The China Internet Network Information Center, which released the figures, also administers domain names in the country.
Of users surveyed, 80% said they regularly visited Web sites of Chinese state-approved news outlets, while 5% said they looked at foreign news sites.
中国互联网用户数量增速开始放缓
中国互联网用户数量增速开始放缓，这显然是由于政府对网吧等上网场所监管力度的加强及手机短信业务的快速增长所致。
半官方研究机构中国互联网络信息中心(China Internet Network Information Center)表示，截至今年6月底，中国互联网用户数为8,700万，较去年年底增长9.4%，较2003年6月增长28%。上述两个增幅均是自1997年底开始统计中国互联网用户数据以来最低的。
截至今年6月底，仅有6.6%的中国人经常上网，而在美国这一比例超过70%。2003年6月底时，中国互联网用户数增幅为48%，2002年6月底为72%。中国人口总数占全球的20%，互联网用户数占全球互联网用户总数的12%。
上述研究显示，虽然仍有约5,100万互联网用户使用的是拨号上网，但宽带用户数量已大幅增长。截至今年6月底，宽带用户数较年初增长79%，达到3,100万，较2003年6月增长两倍以上。
行业人士将互联网用户数增速开始放缓的主要原因归于政府对网吧等上网场所监管力度的加强及作为数据和信息传送替代设备的手机数量快速增长。
北京通讯行业咨询公司BDA China的董事总经理Duncan Clark表示，政府对网吧等场所的严格监管可能会对互联网行业的发展产生间接的不利影响。
2002年时，北京一家位于地下室的网吧发生火灾，造成19人死亡。这一事件促使政府对网吧进行严厉清查，之后未成年人被禁止进入网吧这一提供网页浏览和网络游戏服务的主要场所。目前所有人在进入网吧前都必须出示身份证，新开网吧也必须进行详细登记。现在一些大城市的网吧中已再也看不到未成年人了。
由于目前中国互联网用户数是具备上网功能电脑数量的2.3倍多，因此上述措施会对中国互联网用户数量的增长产生不利影响。
但手机技术的不断发展可能也是造成互联网用户数增速放缓的原因之一。BDA China的分析师胡伟(Hu Wei, 音译)表示，由于中国现有手机用户已超过3亿，短信已成为一种在费用方面能够被人接受并且大众化的实时通讯方式。目前中国每日短信发送量达到近10亿条。越来越多的中国人已从仅通过短信和好友聊天转为同时通过手机接收一些新消息和内容。而之前，人们通常是从网上获取最新信息。
Clark表示，互联网最初的吸引力正慢慢减弱，人们开始认识到手机拥有的直接性和灵活性。
虽然中国政府加强了对含有政治敏感性内容网页的监管，但中国网站注册量还是较上年同期增长32%，达到626,000个，其中超过84%注册在经济较发达的东部沿海地带。公布互联网用户相关数据的中国互联网络信息中心也管理域名方面的事宜。
在接受调查的用户中，80%的人表示他们经常访问中国政府批准发布新闻的网站，5%的人表示会访问海外新闻网站
