The number of Chinese with Internet access rose to 111 million at the end of 2005, with 64.3 million having broadband access, according to figures released from China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) in January 2006.

But the 19.3 million netizens who live in rural areas represent only 2.6 percent of the rural population, while the 91.7 million netizens in cities are nearly 17 percent of the urban population. China's eastern coastal areas account for 57.8 percent of all of the country's netizens.

This gap is very much on the mind of the Chinese Government. By the end of 2003, at least 10,000 primary and middle schools in the poor western provinces had been equipped with primitive computing facilities or Internet access.

The United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) distance education project includes 180 schools in 18 counties of 12 provinces in China. The project plans to expand from 15 to 50 schools in 2006, adding Sichuan Province and more counties from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In addition, more schools in the eastern cities will be chosen to take part in the project as partner schools.

(China Daily March 29, 2006)