According to predictions in eMarketer's new report, China Online Overview, the country's online population is growing 30% a year, and will soon pass the US to have the most Internet users in the world.
China also has plenty of room to grow online.
Since only 10.5% of Chinese used the Internet in 2006, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), eMarketer expects the number of Chinese online to reach 245.5 million by 2012.
Two-thirds of Chinese Internet users had broadband service in 2006.
With 56.3 million broadband users, according to PointTopic estimates, China is now the world's second-largest market for broadband services. The United States still led slightly in the first quarter of 2007 with 60.4 million broadband lines.
By 2011, eMarketer predicts China's broadband population will swell by 62%, totaling 90.5 million households. ADSL is by far the most popular broadband technology in China, with 33.9 million household subscribers and comprising 73% of the market in 2006.
