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Internet facilitates information flow
By Li Hong (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-02-28 09:33
China's meteoric Internet growth, already eye-catching in the world, has an
even greater development potential, and will continue to promote a freer flow of
information in China, major website executives and experts attending a seminar
in South China's Hainan Province said recently.
China, the world's second largest Internet market after the United States
with 111 million Internet users, is expected to see an annual jump of at least
15 percent in the number of netizens before 2010.
"This means big business and enormous opportunities," said Wang Yan, chief
executive officer of sina.com, a top Chinese portal listed on the New York
Nasdaq stock exchange.
People hooked to the Internet now account for a mere 8.4 percent of China's
total population. Web-based business is still at its ascent, said more than 70
executives and Internet researchers who attended the annual meeting of the
Internet Information Service Commission of the Internet Society of China in
Hainan on Monday.
"Among the countries whose per-capita yearly GDP is less than US$2,000, China
has witnessed the fastest Internet sector growth, and the boom is a
manifestation of China's effective yet market-friendly regulation," Wang said.
Up to 20 Chinese firms have been listed abroad, mainly in the United States,
with a gross market value exceeding US$10 billion, and more are waiting to get
on the bandwagon.
Wang said that this success partly testifies to the authorities' guiding and
overseeing the sector, and he believes there may exist a misunderstanding among
some foreigners who criticize China's Internet system.
Web executives and sector experts at the seminar said that
keeping out "illegal and harmful" information from the Internet is a worldwide
common practice.
"China's overseeing Internet content is in tandem with world norms. Many big
websites in the world have explicit written rules on deleting or editing
netizens' messages that they deem abusive, defamatory, offensive, obscene, or in
violation of a specific law," said Professor Ming Dahong, of the journalism
research institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Participants of the seminar echoed Professor Ming's views. He Hongzhen,
corporate affairs manager of the Nasdaq-listed Chinese top search engine
baidu.com, said that it is all Chinese Internet companies' responsibility to
strive for a healthy, orderly, and well-regulated Internet environment. He
deemed that China's Internet management mode of "government regulation hand in
hand with sector self-discipline" is effective and beneficial to the long-term
net growth in China.
It remains an arduous task for the Internet sites to keep a somber mind in
constantly ferreting out "illegal and harmful" information, typically obscene
and pornographic content that poisons the young and vulnerable, particularly
children. According to a recent survey, young people under the age of 18 consist
of 60 percent of China's total netizen population.
Since its launch in June 2004, the China Internet Illegal Information
Reporting Center has received more than 240,000 tips from the public complaining
of illicit or irregular Internet-related content and acts. Of the total clues
reported, 68.2 percent are porn related, and 8.2 percent concerns Web gambling
and fraudulence.
Chinese experts said that the reporting center is identical to the
functioning of the Internet Watch Foundation of the United Kingdom. China will
soon join a 17-member world Internet overseeing federation, headquartered in
Ireland, a source revealed.
Fang Xingdong, chairman and CEO of bokee.com, China's largest blog website,
said in an interview, that he foresees a volcanic rise of blog writers in the
coming years. Fang estimated that China now has up to 12-15 million active
bloggers, who are contributing 65,000 blogs an hour.
"Their writings are freewheeling, dynamic, and interactive with millions
reading and commenting. These people are making thousands of varied statements
on the Internet," Fang said. "It is really a mistake to say there is no freedom
of Internet speech in China."
"As a matter of fact, the unprecedented rapid growth of Internet has
activated the democratic process of China's society, and made the country better
informed and connected with the world community," said Huang Chengqing,
secretary general of the Internet Society of China.
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