Although the number of Internet users in China has reached 137 million, 90 percent of the population is not online.

According to the latest survey by the CNNIC, over one-third of those who do not use the Internet said they lacked IT skills and facilities. Nearly 20 percent claimed they did not use the Internet because they were too busy.

But compared with previous statistics, the percentage of people who claimed to have inadequate IT skills declined, while people who said they did not have adequate facilities, such as an Internet network and personal computers, increased.

Experts said China's Internet infrastructure, especially in China's less developed areas, lags behind people's needs.

Wang Enhai, director of the information services department of the CNNIC, predicted that the growth of Internet users in China would mainly come from the country's rural areas. "The Internet penetration in China's rural areas has huge potential," said Wang. "And I think that's where China's new Internet users will mainly come from in the future."

According to the CNNIC's latest report, the digital gulf in China remains vast, with the majority of Chinese websites set up in the country's more developed provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Last year, Internet take-up in China's rural areas increased 0.5 percent to 3.1 percent. But in the country's urban areas it jumped 3.3 percent to 20.2 percent. It reached 30 percent in Beijing.

Wang said Internet penetration in China's big cities such as Beijing is nearing its limit. He said the government and telecom carriers should invest more in the country's less developed areas, where local economic development and education levels are low.

In recent years, the Chinese government and the nation's major Internet service providers China Telecom and China Netcom have invested heavily in the construction of Internet networks and facilities in rural areas.

Big IT firms such as Intel and Lenovo have also been active in improving Internet access in these regions.

Experts said these efforts have seen Internet charges reduced considerably in China, and together with the declining price of personal computers, this has boosted the number of Internet users in the country.

According to the CNNIC's report, Internet users in China spend an average 83.5 yuan every month on Internet access. That figure was 102 yuan six years ago, according to a previous CNNIC report.

The report said that for those who did not use the Internet, traditional media such as television and newspapers were their major sources of information. And of those who planned to get online in the next six months, the majority were male, married and aged under 30.

Source:China Daily