The Internet Revolution in China
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Author | Jianhai Bi |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600303 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JIANHAI
BI
The
internet
revolution
in
China
The
significance
for
traditionalforms
of
communist
control
M
OST
CHINESE
HAD
NOT
HEARD OF
THE
INTERNET
before
the
mid-
1990s;
many
are
now
rushing
to
embrace
cyberspace.
Internet
service
providers
(ISPs)
and
internet
content
providers
(ICPs)
are
mushroom-
ing.
Chinese
are
among
the
world's
most
active
internet
users,
and
internet
growth
rates
are
among the
highest
in
the world.
By
the
end
of
2000
there
were
265,000
websites
and
22.5
million
internet
users
in
China.,
If
present
trends
continue,
within
five
years
China
will
have
more
users
than
the
United
States.
The
growing
numbers
have
been
seen
as
a
potential
gold
mine
in
a
population
of
about
1.3
billion
cus-
tomers
and
have
attracted
the
attention
of
global
investors
in
informa-
tion
technology
fields.
DEVELOPMENTS
Chinas
computer market
grew
by
more
than
40
per
cent
per
year
after
1994 (except
for
a
temporary
decline
in
1998).2
In
1999,
personal
computer
(PC)
sales
increased
by
25.6
per
cent to
a
total
of
4.94
mil-
PhD
candidate, Universiy
of
Canterburfi
Christchurch,
New
Zealand,
andformer
lecture,
Institute ofInternatiOnal
Relations,
Beijing,
andformer
Associate
Professor,
Institute
of
Naval
Politics
of
the
PLA.
The
author
is
gratefiul
to
Emeritus
Professor
KeithJackson
frr
his
helpful
com-
ments
on
an
earlier draft
of
this
article.
i
Acording
to
government
figures.
Another
source
puts the number
of
users
at
29
million.
See
Agence
France
Presse,
'China
to
protect
intellectual
property
on
the
internet,'
Inside
China,
22
December
2000.
2
Wang
Chuandong,
'Computer
sector
sees
decrease
in
sales,'
China
Daily,
io
March
1999.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2001
jianhal
Bi
lion
PCs.'
In
2000,
6.5
million
PCs
were
sold
on
the
domestic
market.
4
By
30 June
2000,
6.5
million
computers
were
logged
on
to
the inter-
net.'
The
world's
fifth
largest
market for
PCs
and
one
of
the
most
important
PC
manufacturers
and
exporters,
China
is
set
to become
the
world's
largest
PC
consumer, manufacturer,
and
exporter.
6
According
to
government
figures,
the
online
population
doubled
in
the
first
six
months
of
1999
from
two
million
to
four million,
more
than
doubled
by
the
end
of
the
year
to
8.9
million
and
nearly
doubled
again
to
17
million
in
the
first
half
of
2000.!
Given
that
many
Chinese
share
accounts
to
defray
high
line
fees
and other
costs,
the
number
of
people using the
internet
in
China
may
be
between
67
million and
89
million. In addition,
many
people do
not
have
internet
access
from
home,
but
free
e-mail
boxes,
most
of
which
are
unregistered,
are
easy
to
obtain
in
workplaces
and
elsewhere.
The
former
president
of
the
United
States,
Bill
Clinton,
may
not
have been
far
off
the
mark
when
he
said
that
'when
over
100
million
people
in
China
can
get
on
the
Net,
it
will be
impossible
to
maintain
a
closed
political
and
economic
society."
The
online
population
will
continue
to
increase.
A
domestic
predic-
tion
puts
the
number
of
internet
users
at
62
million
in
2001
and
80
million
by
2002.
Overseas
predictions
are
even
more
optimistic.
One
suggests
that
there
could
be
374
million
users
in
China
and
that China
will
become
the
largest
internet
market
in
the
world
by
the end
of
2005.9
3
Agence
France
Presse,
'Sales
of
computers
leap
in China,'
Inside
China,
27
February
2000.
4
Craig
S.
Smith,
'China's
high-tech
industry
approaches
critical
mass,'
International
Herald
Tribune,
29
May
2001.
5
'China has
16.9
million internet
users,'
People's
Daily,
27
July
2000.
6
Agence
France
Presse, 'China
takes
key
step
in
combating computer
piracy,'
Inside
China,
9
April
1999;
Craig
S.
Smith,
'China's
high-tech
industry
approaches
critical
mass,'
International
Herald
Tribune,
29
May
2001.
7
Huan
Xin, 'Web
surfers
profiled
in
survey,'
Chino
Daily,
18
January
1999;
Zhu
Qiwen,
'Laws
must
help
internet
economy,'
ibid,
22
November
1999;
Sun
Shangwu,
'Young,
smart,
single
and
surfing,'
ibid,
19
January
2000.
8
Quoted
in
Charles
Snyder,
'Internet
crackdown
leaves
Beijing
with
egg
on
its
face,'
Hong
Kong
Imail,
8
December
2000.
9
'Motorola
and
Cisco
cooperate
to
tap
China's
wireless
internet
market,'
People's
Daily,
io
May
2001;
Kai-Alexander
Schlevogt,
'Policy
needed
to
make
web
a
power
for
life,'
China
Daily,
22
September
1999.
422
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer2001
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