China’s Internet & SEO – CNNIC 2009 report on Chinese Netizens Survey

CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) has been continuously releasing some interesting reports and statistics on the Chinese Internet usage and online market over the years. The latest 2009 reports show some interesting stats on the net-revolution that’s going on in China. Here’s a bit from the "23rd Statistical Report on the Internet Development in China" (some bold not in original text):

The Internet Penetration Rate in China Surpassed the Global Average Level for the First Time

[...] According to the report, by the end of 2008, the Internet penetration rate of 22.6% in China had surpassed the global average level of 21.9% for the first time. Meanwhile, the amount of Internet users in China had reached 298 million, with 279 million broadband users. And the registration number of CN domain names reached 13.572 million. The three indexes continued to rank the first in the world.

The report also predicts that, with the advent of the 3G age, wireless Internet will display a trend of explosive growth. The Internet is undergoing a change from entertainment applications to the age of value-added applications.

The CNNIC report shows that the size of Internet users in China has been close to 300 million, increasing by 41.9% from 2007. The Internet penetration rate has reached 22.6%, slightly higher than the global average level (21.9%). The Internet penetration rate in China realized another leap forward, caught up with and surpassed the global average level after the size of Internet users in China surpassed that in the United States and ranked top in the world in June 2008.

At the same time, the survey shows that in the past half a year, 90.6% of the Chinese Internet users accessed the Internet via broadband, that is to say, 270 million Chinese Internet users accessed the Internet via broadband, increasing by over 100 million from 2007. [...]

Mobile Internet Users  Exceeded 100 Million, Explosive Growth Will Come

In relation to the rapid growth of online Internet, the growth of wireless Internet is also quite surprising. According to the report, as carriers paid more attention and the hardware cost of mobile phones kept falling, Internet users accessing the Internet via mobile phones in 2008 doubled, reaching 117 million. Accessing the Internet via mobile phones has gradually become a mainstream access method quietly.[...]

According to the CNNIC report, in the survey of primary Internet application use rates, online job hunting, updating blogs and online shopping rank the top three among applications with the fastest growth, while the application rates of entertainment such as online music and online video display an obvious trend of declining.

The Urban-Rural Gap and the East-West Gap Are Likely to Narrow Gradually

The Internet penetration rate is, to a very large extent, determined by the development level of various regions. According to the statistical data of the CNNIC, by the end of 2008, the size of rural Internet users had reached 84.6 million, increasing by 31.9 million from 2007, with the growth rate surpassing 60%, far exceeding that of urban Internet users. With the great increase of the size of rural Internet users, the urban-rural gap is likely to narrow gradually.

Unconceivable growth, and only in one year. ~300 million online users, 117 million connected through mobiles, and despite all predictions about Chinese consumer behavior and the online/credit world, the Chinese do shop online.

Want to see graphs? (through China Daily’s "CNNIC: China had 298 million netizens by Dec 2008") :

China’s Internet Population

The report also includes some interesting SEM/SEO stats which you can follow up on in some of those related posts :

• China Internet Watch (very recommended blog) with China Search Engine Report 2008 Advertisers and Users Behavior Study
• Chinese Baidu: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in China
• CNNIC: Many Of China’s 55.5 Million Online Game Players Have No Money!
• China Search Engine and Internet Users Behavior Report 2008
• China Intelli-Consulting Group’s China Search Engine Survey Report 2008 Released.
• Chinese Eye Tracking Study: Baidu Vs Google
• Chinese search engines: Comparing Baidu and Google