Page 67 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 3. Contextual Background

Online, China Daily and China Youth International. Soon after, China began to realise

the significance of computer information technology in its economic development and
encouraged fast development of the internet for commercial use. In 2004, three ma-
jor commercial network portal companies – Sina, Sohu and NetEase – announced the
first full year of profitability. Thereafter, many commercial network firms went public
through Initial Public Offerings, illustrating the tremendous expansion of internet use.

Government and market actors played a vital role in developing the information tech-
nology sector. Figure 2 shows the development of website and domain names in China
from 1996 to 2021, which by that time had risen to over 4 million websites and nearly

36 million domain names.

Figure 2. The development of websites and domain names in China.
Figure 3 shows the sharp increase of internet and mobile users in China and by

2021 the internet penetration rate had risen to around 75%. From the earliest dial-up
network to today’s broadband internet and fibre networks and the popularisation of
mobile phones, internet access has become easier, faster and more flexible and has led

to the growth of internet users in China. It also indicates that the Chinese internet is the
outcome of users’ practices and habits in their daily production, circulation and con-
sumption of online content.

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