China's Online Population Hits 111 Million

Well, it's impressive that such a great number of Chinese people are connected to the Internet, but it's still not enough to make it to number one and China has to settle for being the second most connected to the Internet population in the world.

The number of Chinese using the Internet grew by 17 million compared to the same time last year, according to a state media reported, citing figures released by the official China Internet Network Information Center. Broadband is also becoming more and more popular, as this type of link to the Internet gained more than 50% over the last year and now 64 million used use broadband to get online.

The agency also stated that there is a huge gap between the internet-savvy situation in big cities and the countryside. According to the report, Internet use in China's cities is somewhere around 17 percent, while in rural areas, only 2,6 percent use it.

China encourages Internet use for education and business purposes but tries to block its use to spread opposition to communist rule. The government blocks access to foreign Web sites deemed subversive or pornographic.