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| .cn China |
| Huixin Ke |
The number of Chinese going online continues to increase. At the same time, R&D efforts in the country are beginning to yield a number of important ICT innovations that manufacturers have commercialised for the large domestic market. The government has maintained its support for ICT and is dedicating sustained efforts to developing industries related to the new technologies while promoting their use to the people. Local online content The number of Chinese domain names ballooned from 250,000 in June 2003 to 349,349 in March 2004. Likewise, local online content grew. Data from the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) show that in 2003 Chinese users spent 89.1 percent of their time online visiting Chinese websites, an increase of 9.6 percent over 2002. Online games have become very popular in China, particularly multi-user role-playing games such as Legend, Pick and Heaven from South Korea and Taiwan. According to market research firm IDC, the gaming industry in China will grow rapidly with the number of game players increasing from 13 million in 2003 to 41.8 million in 2007 and industry revenue growing from RMB 1.3 billion in 2003 to RMB 6.7 billion in 2007 (US$1 = RMB 8.27). About 68 percent of current game players access from Internet bars; as such, much of the competition in the industry will concentrate on these establishments. The number of Chinese blogs grew rapidly in 2003. According to a blog census conducted by the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education, USA, there were 3,543 simplified Chinese blog websites, ranking them 14th in the world, and 7,712 traditional Chinese blogs, putting them at 9th place. Blogs now cover almost every field, including novels, arts, and farming issues. However, some of the better-known sites are personal chronicles such as the controversial "Sex Diaries" of Mu Zimei. The number of government websites also grew rapidly in 2003. A survey conducted by the State Council Informatisation Office shows that most of these websites, especially those of counties, continue to provide only basic information. Some progress has been made in making government information available to the public, but users remain dissatisfied with the lack of interactive services. The outbreak of SARS in 2003 raised the importance of the Internet as a communication medium in China. During the epidemic, the Chinese people received 10.5 percent of their information from the Internet, ranking it just after television and newspapers. Although 47 percent of the 8.3 million small and medium enterprises in the country are using the Internet, only 11.1 percent have engaged in e-commerce. Many companies have established only a website and email, and they do not update their information on a timely basis. Online services Certain online services expanded unexpectedly with the outbreak of SARS. Distance education, B2B e-commerce, telemedicine and videoconferencing were among them. Online services have become a huge market with revenue forecasted by CCID Consulting to climb from RMB 7.3 billion in 2003 to RMB 10.6 billion in 2004. E-government The year 2003 was significant in the development of China’s e-government, and investments totalling about RMB 250 billion were made during the year. The central municipal government began to set up an e-government infrastructure that consists of a government portal, an intranet and an extranet, 4 databases (on China’s population, geology, natural resources, and macroeconomy) and 12 projects to develop application systems for public finance, auditing, customs, taxation, social security, agriculture, hydrology, etc. . . . . . the complete text of this chapter is available for purchase and immediate download as a PDF file, please click here for more information. |
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