China: July 21, 2003

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A recent survey revealed that Internet use in China is growing at an astounding rate, increasing 48 percent last year, to 68 million. Two thirds of those users access the net from home, and 84 percent of them earn less than $240 (2,000 Yuan) a month. Users spend an average of 13 hours a week online. They receive an average of 7.2 emails a week, and send 5.3. The Internet is mainly used for entertainment and news. This has the government very concerned, because the news available on the Internet is not nearly as controlled as print and broadcast media. The government has made strenuous efforts to censor information in the Internet, but with limited success.