CNNIC: China had 298 million netizens by Dec 2008

Source: China Daily

China's Internet population swelled to nearly 300 million by the end of last year, with the penetration surpassing the global average for the first time, according to a quasi-government organization.

The number of Internet users in the country reached 298 million by the end of 2008, representing a 41.9 percent growth compared to the previous year, said a report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

More than 90 percent of the Internet users surf the Web via broadband access, CNNIC said. The penetration stood at 22.6 percent by Dec 31, compared to a global average of 21.9 percent.

That represented a major leap forward for China since the country overtook the United States as the world’s largest Internet population in June, 2008, CNNIC said.

So how do we combat this?



Source: MSN

Nanometre wave machines, military formation drills, gruelling exercise regimes and electric shocks are being used to cure China's ballooning number of internet addicts. Some 300 treatment centres across the country hope to tackle the growing social problem of web addiction that has accompanied rapid modernisation. "[Internet addicts] can't adjust to school and society, so they try to escape their difficulties and avoid problems," psychologist Tao Ran, who runs a treatment centre on a military base outside of Beijing, said. "They lack self-confidence and often don't have the courage to continue their lives," he is quoted by ABC News as saying.

What the hell is a nanometer wave machine. Is this proven to work? Wouldn't you rather be playing war craft than sitting under a hairdryer!?