China to overtake US in number of Internet users in 2009

By Jeremy Reimer | Published: July 15, 2007 - 05:05PM CT

The research firm Pew Internet has released a new study (PDF) that looks at the growth in the number of Internet users in China, and what it might mean for the future of the 'Net.

There are now an estimated 137 million Internet users in China, and that number has been growing by 18 percent since 2004 until it picked up even more steam in 2006, going up to 23 percent. The United States has 165 million Internet users, according to Pew, with 25 million of those users being aged 12-17. At the current rate of growth in China, the number of Chinese web surfers will surpass the number of American users some time in 2009, and it will continue to rise sharply afterward. With more than half of Americans already online, China's growth over the next 10 years will easily dwarf that of the United States.

[edit on 15-4-2008 by beijinghaidian]

this thread isn't going to go far if you don't at least put some of your own input... like say a question or a comment...

Yes but what's the definition of the surfing? Aren't they banned from seeing much of the internet? I could have sworn they were...hmmm I might need to google to find out if they can google

Yes they are totally censored by what they can and can't look at on the Internet....

As of March 31, 2008, China has unblocked access to some Internet Web sites, including English Wikipedia, at the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

en.wikipedia.org...'s_Republic_of_China

[edit on 16-4-2008 by LateApexer313]

I hate to tell you guys this, but here in the United States, we are third-world when it comes to cell phones, and internet access.

reply to post by beijinghaidian

北京海淀:
Maybe you are wrong, China Now Has More Internet Users Than U.S.
it is quite easy to find this information on internet. like
this
this
and this

[edit on 16-4-2008 by gs001]