China switches off the TV and turns on the computer

(AFP PHOTO/ LIU Jin)

Their numbers totaled 240 million as 2009 drew to a close and there are plenty more being added to the list every day, if a report just released in China is to be believed.

China's on-line video fans are a growing breed and the method is now officially the preferred media for the country's on-line obsessed masses, with more than 50 per cent of those surveyed saying they would rather turn on a computer screen to watch a movie than the television. And the same thing, ironically, applies when it comes to watching television series.

The annual survey into internet usage put together by the Chinese government-China Internet Network Information Center, revealed that movies (with 77 per cent) and TV series (70.5 per cent) were the most popular forms of entertainment and that 67 per cent of respondents claimed that had "significantly reduced'' the amount of time they spent watching television.

The CNNIC survey - which claims to have polled those 240 million over the course of 2009 - also reveals that almost 72 per cent of people use search engines to hunt down the videos they watch while social website recommendation account for almost 54 per cent of the decisions they finally make.

Of those polled, 79 per cent said they were satisfied with the internet videos and 28 per cent said they were very satisfied

Overall, it is estimated that 384 million people use the internet in China.

http://www.cnnic.net.cn/en/index/index.htm

MS