Half a billion Internet users in China

Written by Sandeep Nehra

China now has 500 million Internet users, a world record in constant progression, reported on Thursday the New China News Agency, quoting a senior official.

Since late June, when China had 485 million Internet users, 15 million more have joined the ranks of the first online community in the world, said Wang Chen, head of the Information Office of the Business Council of State.

The Web as a unique Chinese a very high rate of users of microblogging (about four Chinese Internet users out of 10), particularly popular way to communicate and disseminate information in a country where the press is tightly controlled by the state.

Beijing to censor the Internet by blocking many websites based abroad (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) as well as information considered sensitive by the government.

But e-commerce is flourishing, with experts predicting very strong growth of this sector in coming years. Online commerce rose 22% last year in China, the China e-Business Research Center.