China's online users increase rapidly

Internet users in China have increased over 23% in 2006 and reached 137 million, of which 104 million are broadband users. According to an article in E-Commerce Times, the numbers were released by the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) which has been tracking online usage from 1997. An estimated 17 million people in China also had online access via mobile phones. China now ranks second, after the US in online users.

"With a broadband penetration rate of 76 percent, China has already become one of the most-developed markets in broadband," Wang Enhai, an official with the CNNIC, said in the report.

With the improved infrastructure has come a better-quality experience. More seamless content delivery has played a crucial role in the rise of users, according to CNNIC.

More than 70 percent of China's Internet users are under 30 years old, and 58.3 percent of the overall users are men, with 41.7 percent women, the CNNIC report noted. The two largest age groups for users are 18 to 24, with 35.2 percent, and 25 to 30, with 19.7 percent.