Internet in the People's Republic of China
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The first connection of the People's Republic of China with the Internet was established in September 20, 1987 between ICA Beijing and Karlsruhe University in Germany, under the leadership of Prof. Werner Zorn and Prof. Wang Yunfeng.
[edit] Development
According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)'s 17th Statistical Survey Report on The Internet Development in China,[1] the number of Internet users has reached 111 million as of December 2005, of which the broadband users became the majority, counted to 64.3 million. This represents roughly 11% of internet users in the world. Although mainland China has the second-largest internet population, its penetration of 9.9% lags far behind nations like the US and Japan.
It has become pervasive in China with universal public dialup access available in most cities. The price of broadband connections places it well within the reach of the Chinese middle class.
| Report Date | Internet Users | Connected Computers | .cn Domains | Broadband Users | Dialup Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006.01.17 | 111 M | 49.5 M | 1,096,924 | 64.3 M | 51 M |
| 2005.07.21 | 103 M | 45.6 M | 622,534 | 53 M | 49.5 M |
| 2005.01.19 | 94 M | 41.6 M | 432,077 | 42.8 M | 52.4 M |
| 2004.07.20 | 97 M | 36.3 M | 380,000 | 31.1 M | 51.5 M |
| 2004.01.15 | 79.5 M | 30.89 M | 340,000 | 17.4 M | 49.16 M |
| 2003.07.21 | 68 M | 25.72 M | 250,000 | 9.8 M | 50.1 M |
| 2003.01.16 | 59.1 M | 20.83 M | 179,000 | 6.6 M | 40.8 M |
| 2002.07.22 | 45.8 M | 16.13 M | 126,000 | 2 M | 26.82 M |
| 2002.01.15 | 33.7 M | 12.54 M | 127,000 | N/A | 21.33 M |
| 2001.07.17 | 26.5 M | 10.02 M | 128,000 | N/A | 17.93 M |
| 2001.01.17 | 22.5 M | 8.92 M | 122,000 | N/A | 15.43 M |
| 2000.07.27 | 16.9 M | 6.5 M | 990,000 | N/A | 11.76 M |
| 2000.01.18 | 8.9 M | 3.5 M | 48,000 | N/A | 6.66 M |
| 1999.12.05 | 4 M | 1.46 M | 29,000 | N/A | 2.56 M |
| 1998.06.30 | 1.175 M | 542,000 | 9,415 | N/A | 460,000 |
| 1997.10.31 | 630,000 | 299,000 | 4,066 | N/A | 250,000 |
[edit] Structure
The first four major national networks, namely CSTNet, ChinaNet, CERNet and CHINAGBN, are the backbone of the China Internet. Later dominant telecom providers also started to provide internet services. Public Internet services are usually provided by provincial telecom companies, which sometimes are traded between networks. Internet service providers without a nation-wide network such as the Information Highway could not compete with their bandwidth provider, the telecom companies, and often run out of business.
The interconnection between these networks is a big concern of Internet users, since Internet traffic via the global Internet is quite slow. However, major Internet services providers are reluctant to aid rivals, despite the pressure from the government.
[edit] The China Science and Technology Network (CSTNet)
Built on the Chinese Academy of Science Network (CASNET) and the National Computation Facilities of China (NCFC), CSTNet is the first public non-commercial network for research and education in China. The construction began in 1989, and the connection to the global Internet was completed in 1994. Headerquatered in the Chinese Academy of Science, CSTNet is one of the four first major networks which are allowed global access.
[edit] The ChinaNet
ChinaNet is the primary national commercial network run by China Telecom. According to China Telecom, ChinaNet is the largest Internet network in the world[3]. As of 2006, it has has 25 million broadband subscribers[4]. ChinaNet is one of the four first major networks which are allowed global access.
[edit] The China Education and Research Network (CERNet)
The CERNet is the first nationwide education and research computer network in China. This non-commercial network provide internet access to academic institutions. CERNet is one of the four first major networks which are allowed global access.
[edit] The China Golden Bridge Network (CHINAGBN)
As one of The Golden Projects, CHINAGBN was proposed to the State Council by Premier Zhu Rongji in 1993. After the approval in 1996, major expansions occcured in 1998. Currently, the commercial network is operating by Jitong Communications. CHINAGBN is one of the four first major networks which are allowed global access.
[edit] The China Uninet (UNINet)
UNINet is a network based on China Unicom's universal data network. Started in 1999, it was launched in July 2000, sharing the network with China Unicom's telephone, GSM and CDMA services.
[edit] The China Netcom's network (CNCnet)
Formed in August 1999 by the State Council, China Netcom launched CNCnet at December 28, 2000[5]. Besides Internet service, China Netcom also provides broadband content such as broadband television programs.
[edit] The China International Economy and Trade Net (CIETNet)
As one of The Golden Projects, the Golden Gate project was proposed to the State Council by Premier Zhu Rongji in 1993. The China Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) found China International Electronic Commerce Center (CIECC) in 1996. The network is a secure network focused on electronic commerce, and is linked with global e-commerce networks to process international transactions.
[edit] The China Mobile's network (CMNet)
CMNet is the Internet protocol backbone network of China Mobile. China Mobile provides GPRS wireless Internet access services via this network.
[edit] The China Great Wall Net (Cgwnet)
Cgwnet is a non-commercial network being constructed by China Great Wall Communications.
[edit] The China Satellite Net (CSNet)
CSNEt is a Satellite Internet access network being constructed by China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp.
[edit] China Next Generation Internet
CNGI is the PRC's 5 year plan to implement IPv6 before the rest of the world for increased efficiency, speed, and security.
[edit] Users
The 2006 CNNIC report states that 58.7% Internet users are male, 57.9% are unmarried, and 51.7 are under 24 years old. The majority of Internet users have at least a college diploma. Among the users, 35.1% are students, and 29.7% are enterprises staffs. 50.9% Users earn less than 1500 yuan a month.
Internet made Chinese easier to organize. In 2003, Internet activists and journalists led an online uprising that eventually forced the abolishment of the Custody and repatriation procedure, and the establishment of the constitutional committee in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress [6]. In June, 2006, New York Times reported the online throngs and Internet hunting fought corruptions but also led to violence[7].
[edit] Content
Most users go online to read news, to search for information, and to check email. They also go to BBS or web forums, find music or video, or download files.
[edit] Content Providers
Chinese-language infotainment web portals such as Sina.com, Sohu, and 163.com are quite popular among Internet users. For example, Sina claims it has about 94.8 million registered users and more than 10 million active users engaged in their fee-based services. Other Internet service providers such as the human resource service provider 51job and the electronic commerce web sites such as Alibaba.com are less popular but more successful on their specialty. Their sucees led them to the entrance of stock markets such as NASDAQ.
[edit] Search Engines
Baidu is the leading search engine, while most web portal also provide such functionality. Led by Kai-Fu Lee, a former Microsoft executive, Google China is also entering the Chinese market.
[edit] Online Communities
Although Chinese write less e-mails, they enjoy other internet communication tools and form their communities based on different interests. Bulletin boards on portals or elsewhere, chat rooms, Instant messaging groups and blogs are very active, while photo-sharing and social networking sites are growing rapidly. Some Wikis such as the Chinese Wikipedia are also flourishing.
[edit] Censorship
Much of the attention in the West has been placed on the interaction between the Internet and the authoritarian Communist Party of China. Early predictions that the Internet would bring the collapse of the party have proved unfounded.
As one of The Golden Projects, the Golden Shield project was proposed to the State Council by Premier Zhu Rongji in 1993. As a massive surveillance and content control system, it was launched in November 2000, and became known as the Great Firewall of China. However, the blocking of websites can be circumvented and is generally ineffective at preventing the flow of information. The effectiveness of the project depends more on the Chilling effect than the actual blocking.
The Internet has provided some interesting tactics for the dissemination of news. In contrast to some early fears that the fluidity of web content would make it easy to rewrite history and strengthen the hand of the government, the opposite appears true. One common tactic in publishing sensitive topics is to post the article on a newspaper website, and then comply with government orders to take it down. By the time the article is removed, people will have read it negating the point of the censorship order.
However, in fear of closure, online service providers sometimes hire moderators known as big mama to monitors user-provided content. Nevertheless, some official supported websites such as the Strong Country Forum hosted by the People's Daily are less restricted than others in discussing sensitive topics.
[edit] Malware
The Chinese Internet is awash with adware that spread and conceal themselves and pop-up ads. The only one browser address bar is being competited by various browser hijackers, and each one tries to protect itself from being uninstalled by a competitor. Several lawsuits were fired between their developers for "unfair competition", such as CNNIC, Baidu and Yahoo! China. Chinese antivirus producers don't identify them as malware, citing the difficulty of malware classification and the risk of law suits.
In July 2006, Qihoo, led by Zhou Hongyi, the former chief of the Yahoo! Assistant producer 3721, launched an antimalware software campaign. Several malicious software operators are being sued in September. However, Qihoo is also sued by Yahoo! China for defamation, as Qihoo 's antivirus software 360safe identifies Yahoo! Assistant as malware[2].
The China Anti-Malware Alliance filed lawsuits against eBay China and Yahoo! China in September 2006[8], and sued CNNIC in the next month[9]. The China Anti-Malware Alliance also complained to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) about China Telecom's dialer software that directs users to certain sites and changes users' homepages automatically[10].
[edit] References
- ^ The 17th report[1] is the most recent report on Statistical Reports on the Internet Development in China[2]
- ^ see Netizens wage war on malicious software and Former Yahoo! China boss sues for defamation
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Internet Connection Map of China by CNNIC
- Blogging in China (Channel 4 News)
- PBS article
- China celebrates 10 years of being connected to the Internet
- ChinaTechNews.com is a good source for daily non-partisan (and seems not to be affiliated with the Chinese government either) news about technology and Internet in China
- Chinese censors block access to Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center
- Pacific Epoch - an English News site covering China's Internet industry, updated daily
- Interesting blog on Chinese Internet companies
- Structual maps of major networks in China
- China Malware War Gets Personal
