Chinese addicted to internet

Chinese addicted to internet 

China’s rapidly growing ranks of internet users seem to be in the headlines every other day, whether it’s through their being denied access to Skype or being told how long they can play online games. Now, a survey has reported the somewhat nebulous claim that over 13% of Chinese young people are addicted to their online habits.

A group associated with the Communist Youth League of China has found that 13.2% of Chinese youths and young adults are addicted to the internet, according to the official China Daily newspaper.

The China Youth Association for Network Development (CYAND) conducted the survey, which drew responses from 22,500 people between the ages of 13 and 35 years old in 30 cities, the China Daily reported. Responses were collected in schools, internet cafes and through the internet, it said.

The CYAND survey did not give an exact figure for the number of internet-addicted youths in China. However, it said 17% of young male users and 10% of young female users are addicted to the internet, China Daily reported. Most addicts were aged from 13 to 17 years old, with 23.2% of junior high school students addicted to the internet, it said.

China had 103 million internet users at the end of July, according to the China internet Network Information Center, which estimated that 15.8% of users are under age 18.

The China Daily report did not provide a clear definition for an internet addict as used with the CYAND survey. However, it said users who are "happier in the virtual world than in the real one" and those who "feel frustrated or at a loss when you can’t access the ‘net" are internet addicts.

The announcement of the CYAND survey comes at a time when the Chinese government has taken tentative steps to regulate online gaming, such as the recent implementation of a "fatigue system," which limits online game play in internet cafes to three hours per session.

– Sumner Lemon