China's Internet User Base Reaches 182 mln

Sina Tech, 1/08/08

According to the Internet Society of China's newly published "Netguide 2008 - China Internet Survey Report", in 2007, China's total Internet user population reached 182 mln, or a penetration rate of 13.8%.

In 2007, China's online portal market increased 22.3% from that of 2006, to RMB 12.35 bln. Sales revenue from the top four online portal sites - Sina, Sohu, Netease, and Tencent - composed 76% of total online portal revenues. Sina and Sohu derived a higher percentage of revenues from advertising, while Tencent and Netease had higher percentages from non-advertising businesses.

The online travel and reservation market grew to RMB 2.25 bln in 2007, up 65.4% from 2006. Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) ranked No. 1, with Mangocity, eLong (Nasdaq: LONG), and Aoyoutx making up a second tier. Travel search engine Qunar, still looking for a sustainable profit model, was pegged as a third tier site, while all other sites providing reservation services labeled fourth tier.

Total user online spending in 2007 came to RMB 398.8 bln, with that for 2008 estimated to reach RMB 581.5 bln, a 45.8% increase. Average online spending per internet user in 2007 was RMB 2,191, up 7.7% from 2006, with the figure for 2008 expected to increase 8.8% to RMB 2,383.

Average time per user spent websurfing each month was 716 minutes (11.9 hours).

In 2007, average monthly income for internet users was RMB 1,839, while average monthly expenditure (all expenses, not only Internet-related expenses) was RMB 1,188, about 64.6% of their income.

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