China > U.S.

While China’s economy is experiencing some form of a slowdown, it does not seem to be slowing down the growth of the country’s Internet population, which was declared to have surpassed the size of the online population in the U.S. The U.S. laid claim to the largest online population before this.

BDA China, a research group based in Beijing, indicated that 220 million people were online in China in the month of February. This number grew to 233 million in March. Nielsen/NetRatings pegged the total U.S. online population at 216 million at the end of 2007.

China had 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007, which reflected a 53% increase from the previous year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

To add to China’s newfound boast, just 17% of the country’s population of 1.3 billion people is online, compared to 71% of the U.S. population (304 million) that is already accessing the Web. The potential for an extended period of rapid growth is obvious.

The currently rapid growth and large online population in China is happening despite censorship by the government.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080421/tc_usatoday/
chinavaultspastusaininternetusers;_ylt=ApbTC7Ir7443.YVnEnpY0z36VbIF

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/04/21/
china-now-has-the-most-internet-users