China's Internet market scale is expected to jump by 40 percent
to 163.5 billion yuan in 2008, according to the estimates of CCID
Consulting, a leading market consultant.
"Online games and e-commerce are the major driving forces of the
impressive growth," explained Tan Bin, a senior expert with the
company.
"Prepaid cards used to be the only profit source for online game
operators," said Tan. "Now they sell equipment that players use in
the games, which has proved to be more profitable."
According to the CCID research, the online game market grew by
74.6 percent year on year to 11.4 billion yuan in 2007 and is
expected to reach 18.7 billion yuan in 2008.
"E-commerce, which covered the sale of books and discs mostly in
the past, has become a platform for more products, such as
insurance, steel and chemicals," said Tan.
"As traders get used to doing business online, which
significantly reduces their costs, e-commerce is sure to boom," Tan
said.
China's e-commerce rose by 68.9 percent to 18 billion yuan in
2007 and is expected to see a 65 percent annual increase in 2008,
according to the company.
"Online advertising will expand the Internet market as more
companies increase their spending during the Beijing Olympic Games," Tan said.
CCID Consulting predicts that online advertising will grow by 49
percent year on year to 6.9 billion yuan in 2008.
Beijing-based CCID Consulting was the first domestic consulting
firm to be listed in the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange. It is affiliated to the China Center for
Information Industry Development (CCID Group).
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)
