(* Source: Tangos *) 

Tangos reports... 

According to the latest report by China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), at the end of June 2007, Chinese Internet users has reached 162 million, which means an increase of 25 million in last six months, the biggest half-yearly increase ever. But it may because CNNIC report change the definition of Internet users, in all previous reports, Internet user means Chinese citizen aged 6 and above who averagely use the Internet at least one hour per week. However, in its latest report, Internet users are Chinese citizens aged 6 and above who use the Internet in last half year.

The following are my quick thoughts on the latest report:

• Mobile Internet will become more and more important, over 44 million users use mobile handsets to access Internet, an increase of 27 million (159%) in last six months.
• Over half of all Internet users(51.2%) are under age 25. The Internet penetration rate for users aged between 18 to 24 is 43.4%. Internet has become their lifestyle, that’s also part of the reasons that QQ and 51.com are so popular in China.
• The percentage of Internet users with high school education or below increased from 48.2% in half year ago to 56.1%. The percentage of users with an income below 1000 yuan increased from 47.6% to 51.7%. You need to understand these group of young users to become leading player in China’s Internet market.
• Over 37% users, increased from 32.3%, access Internet in Internet cafe. It is said that 51.com is very popular among Internet Cafe users
• IM is more important in China than email for communication. More netizens use IM than email (69.8% vs. 55.4%), while over 90% Internet users use email in US. IM usage rate is even higher (74.6%) among users under age 25, while the email usage rate is only 46.6% among them.
• Online entertainment demand is the most important demand among Chinese yougsters(under age 25), with 91.4% of them used online music, 79.6%% used online movies, and 67.1% played online games.

Well, from this data, you may find the characteristics of Chinese Internet is quite different from those of US, you should study the report in detail to understand Chinese Internet users better. The full report in PDF file can be downloaded (English version report) here.