The number of Internet users in China’s rural areas is growing and majority among them are young men with little education; downloading games and music, a latest report said.
The number of Internet users in Chinese rural areas had reached 37.4 million by the end of June, of which 62 per cent are male, a report released by China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), the country’s top internet research and administrative body, said.
It was the first time CNNIC singled out web users in the countryside in its report. The CNNIC sais 52.7 per cent of urban web users are male.
People below the age of 30, account for 84 per cent of the total rural users, while the figure stands at 66 per cent in cities, the report said.
The number of teenage users stood at 15.75 million in the countryside by June, double last year’s figures. And 85 per cent of the rural users have not gone to high school, compared with 47 per cent in cities, Xinhua news agency reported.
When it comes to the behaviour patterns on line, there are no big difference between rural and urban web users: playing games, downloading music and movies.
The rural users however show less interest in reading news, searching information and shopping on line.
“The Internet service market in rural areas is of huge potential though the gap between cities and villages remains big,” the report added.
The CNNIC suggested that the administration, IT companies and Internet service providers join hands in developing the rural market.