Online community exceeds half a billion
Source: Xinhua |
January 12, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has seen its Internet population pass the half billion mark, as rapid urbanization allows more and more people to access the web, figures show.
But this growth has also brought increased cyber security problems, with almost half of China's web users hit by malware in the first half of 2011.
The number of Internet users in China is estimated to have reached 505 million last November - up from 485 million at the end of June, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said yesterday.
The Internet penetration rate rose to 37.7 percent in November, up 3.4 percentage points from the end of 2010, according to a CNNIC report unveiled at a Beijing conference.
As of the end of November, the number of microblog users exceeded 300 million, jumping from 195 million by the end of June, the report said.
The rapid growth of China's Internet population, already the largest of any country, has spurred expansion in the Internet economy.
The value of China's Internet economy surged 72.7 percent year-on-year to 71.6 billion yuan (US$11.3 billion) in the third quarter of 2011, according to Shanghai-based Internet consulting firm iResearch.
Microblogging, electronic commerce and mobile payment services all continued to maintain a strong growth momentum in 2011, Gao Xinmin, vice president of the Internet Society of China (ISC), said.
New services and technologies are also taking off, with cloud computing expected to generate more than 60 billion yuan in 2012, the ISC forecast.
China has targeted up to 2 trillion yuan in telecommunications infrastructure investment during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, with cloud computing a key project.
But web security has become an increasingly complicated issue with the expansion of the Internet industry.
There were increased numbers of attacks on China's Internet infrastructure, as well as the information systems of key industries such as finance, transport, energy, customs, taxation and science and technology, Gao said.
Online phishing occurs frequently among financial sector websites, he noted.
In the first half of 2011, 217 million Chinese Internet users were attacked by malware - including viruses and trojans - and 121 million had their accounts hacked or passwords stolen, CNNIC data shows.
China faces a complex battle to maintain Internet security, and better regulation is urgently needed, Gao warned.
But this growth has also brought increased cyber security problems, with almost half of China's web users hit by malware in the first half of 2011.
The number of Internet users in China is estimated to have reached 505 million last November - up from 485 million at the end of June, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said yesterday.
The Internet penetration rate rose to 37.7 percent in November, up 3.4 percentage points from the end of 2010, according to a CNNIC report unveiled at a Beijing conference.
As of the end of November, the number of microblog users exceeded 300 million, jumping from 195 million by the end of June, the report said.
The rapid growth of China's Internet population, already the largest of any country, has spurred expansion in the Internet economy.
The value of China's Internet economy surged 72.7 percent year-on-year to 71.6 billion yuan (US$11.3 billion) in the third quarter of 2011, according to Shanghai-based Internet consulting firm iResearch.
Microblogging, electronic commerce and mobile payment services all continued to maintain a strong growth momentum in 2011, Gao Xinmin, vice president of the Internet Society of China (ISC), said.
New services and technologies are also taking off, with cloud computing expected to generate more than 60 billion yuan in 2012, the ISC forecast.
China has targeted up to 2 trillion yuan in telecommunications infrastructure investment during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, with cloud computing a key project.
But web security has become an increasingly complicated issue with the expansion of the Internet industry.
There were increased numbers of attacks on China's Internet infrastructure, as well as the information systems of key industries such as finance, transport, energy, customs, taxation and science and technology, Gao said.
Online phishing occurs frequently among financial sector websites, he noted.
In the first half of 2011, 217 million Chinese Internet users were attacked by malware - including viruses and trojans - and 121 million had their accounts hacked or passwords stolen, CNNIC data shows.
China faces a complex battle to maintain Internet security, and better regulation is urgently needed, Gao warned.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
