網民年輕化 上網娛樂化

Most of the country's Internetusers go online to chat or seek entertainment rather than look for jobs or conduct business.

According to a report released by China InternetNetwork Information (CNNIC) yesterday, China's Internet users totaled 162 million in the first six months of this year. The country reported 137 million users last year.

The rapid growth could be translated into almost 100 new users per minute in the past six months.

At this rate of increase, China is expected to overtake the United States, the world's leader, by the end of next year. The US had 211 million Internet users at the end of last month.

Although the number of China's Internet users has been on the rise since 1994, when first introduced to the country, the research showed most users were interested in chat rooms and entertainment, and not job searches, education, and e-banking.

About 75 percent read online news and used search engines for information.

More than 60 percent regarded online music and videos as an important source of entertainment.

Only 21 percent used e-banking services, and 3.9 percent booked tickets through the Internet.

Wang Enhai, an official with CNNIC, and an author of the report, said the phenomenon is due to China's Internet infancy and the fact most users were young people.

"China's Internet market is just emerging and there are still a lot of things to be done before a mature online business environment can be established," Wang said.

According to CNNIC, the number of China's Internet users under 24 years old was 58 million, about 35.8 percent of the country's total Internet population.

This segment of the population, comprising mostly students, spends a lot of time playing online games, listening to music and watching videos.

我國大多數互聯網用戶上網進行的主要活動是聊天和娛樂，而不是找工作或從事商務活動。

中國互聯網絡信息中心昨天發布的一份報告顯示，今年上半年，中國的網民總數達到1.62億人。去年這一數字為1.37億。

在過去六個月中，中國網民的數量以每分鐘近一百人的速度激增。

按照這一增速，中國有望于明年年底超過美國，成為全世界網民規模最大的國家。截至上月底，美國的網民數量達到2.11億人。

盡管自1994年互聯網引入中國以來，網民數量一直增長，但調查顯示，大多數網民對網上聊天和娛樂較感興趣，而不是網上求職、網絡教育和網上銀行。

約75%的網民在網上瀏覽新聞以及使用搜索引擎搜索信息。

超過60%的人將在線音樂和在線視頻視為娛樂生活的重要組成部分。

僅有21%的人使用過網上銀行服務，3.9%的人曾在網上訂票。

中國互聯網絡信息中心官員、調查報告的撰寫者之一王恩海說，這一現象的主要原因是中國的互聯網尚處于起步階段，而且大多數互聯網用戶都是年輕人。

他說：“中國的互聯網市場才剛剛興起，建立一個成熟的在線商務環境仍有很多事情要做。”

據中國互聯網絡信息中心數據，中國24歲以下的網民達到5800萬，占網民總數的35.8%。

而且其中的大多數人是學生，他們經常在網上打游戲、聽音樂、看視頻。