China’s Internet Population Powers Ahead of US, Hits 477 Million
Source: blogs.forbes.com
May. 16 2011 - 5:25 pm
By KENNETH RAPOZA
China’s internet population is pulling farther ahead of the US and there isn’t any looking back, either, on this on. China’s internet population hit 477 million users in March, according to China Daily. The newspaper’s website sourced Wang Jianwen, deputy head of the Telecommunications Administration Bureau, who gave the figures while addressing a meeting in Beijing.
The number of websites registered with the authorities rose to 3.82 million from 3.3 million in February, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.
Last year, China had 420 million internet users, far surprassing the 239.2 million internet users in the US registered on line in 2010. Around 78% of the US population has at least a home based email account. In China, internet penetration is under 40%, but still greater than countries like Brazil and Mexico.
Peter Newell, an advisor at Vontobel Asset Management in New York, which has over $10 billion in emerging markets, says that when it comes to China, investors are better off buying stocks of companies that are focused on domestic growth.
“We don’t want to predict the future price of iron ore or commodities demand. We think it is easier to figure out how many people will be online,” he says, saying internet search engine Baidu is one of their top buys. |
