China established its first internet connection in 1994, becoming the 77th country to go online. The number of internet users in China began to spike in 2006 and by 2011 the country had more internet users than the US. The massive rise in internet users was driven by several factors: migration to cities, rise of e-commerce, offerings of 3G services and the limited appeal of traditional media like TV for younger audiences. In the years leading up to the boom in 2006, the Chinese government rolled out legislation and regulations for companies offering internet services and general internet use. Germany has been used as a benchmark because of its high performance in indicators of digital connectivity.
Rahul Karan Reddy is a Senior Research Associate at Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA). He works on domestic Chinese politics and trade, producing data-driven research in the form of reports, dashboards and digital media. He is the author of ‘Islands on the Rocks’, a monograph about the Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute between China and Japan. Rahul was previously a research analyst at the Chennai Center for China Studies (C3S). He is the creator of the India-China Trade dashboard and the Chinese Provincial Development Indicators dashboard. His work has been published in The Diplomat, East Asia Forum, ISDP & Tokyo Review, among others. He can be reached via email at rahulkaran.reddy@gmail.com and @RahulKaranRedd1 on Twitter.
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