We're #2! China Passes the U.S. in Internet Users

Simply stated, it had to happen; the sheer number of people in China meant that it was a foregone conclusion. The only question was when. A study, admittedly by a Chinese research group, indicates that China has surpassed the United States, long the leader, in the number of Internet users.

This despite the fact that China has taking "shocking steps" to curb Internet addiction.

Beijing-based research group BDA China reported that the number of Chinese Internet users passed more than 220 million as of February. They used estimates from official Chinese statistics. While the government has not acknowledged the finding, it's likely to confirm the data at its half-yearly report in July.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the U.S. had 216 million users at the end of 2007.

Whether or not the data is absolute, it was inevitable, simply by the law of averages. The U.S. percentage of American users is 71%, while China's is 17%. That fact, coupled with China's estimated 1.3 billion people (compared with about 304 million in the USA), says that not only was the leap a sure thing, it's China that's going to lead the way in growth.

Anyone still wonder why companies like Google (despite it's "Don't be evil" motto) and Yahoo! cave in so easily to Chinese government demand?

I wouldn't expect the U.S. to stay at #2 forever either, with India's huge population.

China had already owned the title for the greatest number of mobile phone users.