Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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One of the most dynamic Internet markets in China is the online entertainment industry led by
Shanda Entertainment, followed by Softworld and ZT Network Science Technology.
Kou Xiao Wei, of the audiovisual and Internet publication department of the General
Administration of Press and Publication, told the People's Daily in February 2007: “The online
Chinese gaming market has become the biggest internationally recognized, potential market. In
2006, the scale of the online Chinese gaming market reached 6.54 billion yuan (about 600 million
euros), an increase of 73.5 per cent from 2005, much higher than the forecast 46.3 per cent. Such
strong growth can be attributed to the ‘free service’ model. It is undeniable that there are still
gaps between China and other nations in terms of software development. However, the innovative
business mode of Chinese game providers has won approval from many of their foreign
counterparts.” 18
Beyond the Olympics: Leapfrogging into the next-generation networks?
The Olympic Games are seen as a driving force for dramatic improvement of the national Internet
infrastructure and for introduction of new Internet-based applications and services with long-term
economic and social consequences. China wants to become the world's leader in information
technology by 2015.
Ruoqi Guan, president of the China Network Communications Group, told the Pacific
Telecommunication Conference in Honolulu in January 2007 that there will be 300 million
broadband connections for high-speed Internet access in China after the Olympics. That would
make China the world leader in broadband connections. Guan said this will make it easy for
Internet users in China to switch also to Internet telephony and television (VOIP and IPTV). In
2000, there were fewer than a million broadband connections. 19
There are plans to turn Bejing, with its 17.4 million inhabitants, and other Chinese urban centers
into “wireless cities,” where everyone has fulltime free Internet access. According to Kai Li Kan of
the School of Economics & Management at the University for Posts & Telecommunications in
Bejing, such a model would be “led by the government, built by the people.” 20 In the Access to
Knowledge conference at Yale University in April 2007, Kai dreamed of an Internet “of the people,
by the people, for the people,” recalling Abraham Lincoln’s characterization in his Gettysburg
Address of the ideal government. 21
Internet Usage: More e-entertainment than e-commerce
The Internet in China is now mainly used for information and entertainment, less for e-
government or e-commerce. According to a report by the Network Information Center, the most
popular Internet services in China are online music and Instant messaging/chat rooms. 181 million
users (85.6 per cent) listened to online music in the second half of 2007. Heavy use of online
music also explains the success of the search engine www.baidu.cn which offers special searches
for MP3 files.
More than 170 million Internet users (or 81.4 per cent) in China had used instant messaging or
had gone to a chat room in the second half of 2007. For about 40 per cent of users, this is the
most important and first reason for use of the Internet. It is especially popular among young
people between 18-24 years, of whom 96 perc ent regularly use instant messaging. Interestingly,
instant messaging is used more in underdeveloped regions in the west of China than in the
booming regions on its east coast. 22
Other top applications are online video (161 million or 76.9 per cent), search engines (152 million
or 72.4 per cent) and online news (154 million or 73.6 per cent). Of special importance are