CHINA seems poised to become the world's No. 1 country by Internet population, expert analysts have predicted.
And they expect the nation to see break-through growth on Netizen numbers in the next decade as new services such as wireless networks and 3G come online.
The Chinese Internet population reached 221 million by the end of February compared with 210 million at the end of last year, which was only five million fewer than the US Internet users then, Xinhua news agency said, citing the figures of the China Internet Network Information Center.
Many analysts believe China's Internet population has surpassed that of the US though CNNIC don't provide related figures of the US Internet population. China's booming Internet population is almost the same with that of the United States, which had 221 million Internet users in March, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a US research firm.
It's no doubt China's Netizen number will become the world's No. 1 and the issue is when, Robin Li, Baidu's founder and chairman, said previously.
By the end of 2007, the percentage of Chinese people online stands at 16 percent, below the world's average 19 percent, according to CNNIC.
The Internet penetration rate is 60 to 70 percent in Japan, South Korea and the US, according to Morgan Stanley, which expects China's Internet population to hit 300 million by the end of this year.
Wireless city projects will be boosted this year as China restructures its ministries. The newly-established Information and Industry Ministry is in a powerful position to push the projects, according to Analysys International.
"The wireless Internet coverage is an efficient service in some regions and it helps many people access to Internet for the first time," said Zhang Weihua, the general manager of China Telecom's Shanghai branch.
Shanghai Telecom has signed with Chongming County and Minhang District, where many peasants live, on the wireless Internet services. Peasants can search for agriculture product information or weather forecasts through the services.
By the end of last year, more than 56.2 million Netizens came from rural regions, 127 percent growth year-on-year, according to CNNIC.
Baidu, China's largest online search service provider, said it will be involved to support wireless city construction in 25 mostly second-tier cities nationwide.
Sun Microsystems also said it would help establish wireless networks on campuses in China and provide low-cost Internet access devices. That will allow Chinese students to use Internet services even they can't afford a computer.
Many people choose to surf online through phones and it will become popular when 3G networks are available.
China Mobile has launched the trial 3G services in several cities including Shanghai and the evolved version of 3G supports download speeds of more than 10 megabits per second, similar to wireless broadband speed.
"A large portion of Internet users will come from handset users," said Zheng Jie, Shanghai Mobile's general manager.
China's handset user base has reached more than 550 million, double the Internet user base now.
Through the Internet development in the country, Chinese dot-com firms are "safe heavens" of investors even in the US's tough economy, Morgan Stanley said. "Internet user growth is accelerating more than 50 percent year-on-year in 2007, outpacing most other consumer sectors in China," spokesman Richard Ji said.