Internet History in China - Coursework Example

Name: Professor: Course: Date of Submission: History of the Internet in China This review explores the short history of Chinese internet development and its inherent social economic influences. The development of global internet connection came with unprecedented concern and support for social, economic and political arenas. Benefits associated with internet in all aspects of life have seen many countries invest immensely in the development of internet as way of keeping abreast with other developed countries. China has become the focus of the world attention owing to its fast development and overwhelming economic potential leading to increasing demand for internet to open the country to the rest of the world(Zhao 2007: 9). Despite China lagging behind in embracing the internet technology, its introduction about two decades ago has since undergone tremendous progress. The internet network entered China in 1987 as an important element in the development of the China National Information Infrastructure (CNII). According to Chan, Clancey and Loy (2009: 23) studies revealed that by the end of June 1999, about 1.46million computers had been connected to the internet in China. Internet plays a critical role in the flow of the world information that forms an important catalyst in the global trade. However, the efficiency level regarding management of information forms one of the decisive factors concerning the economic benefits that can be accrued from the information shared through the internet. The internet has provided one of the most effective ways to narrow the digital divide between the developed countries and China. Internet has apparently been a critical technological transformer that has substantially enhanced the Southeast Asian country’s economic boon (Paltemaa & Vuori 2009: 13). Analysis of the role of the internet and its commercial application clearly reveals how information and communication technology (ICT) has contributed towards preparing China and other developing countries for a possible global market change. This paper explores the history and development of internet in China and its role in economic growth. Overview of the Internet in China Similar to other developing countries, internet took a longer time before its realization in China compared to developed economies such as United States. This breakthrough led to a remarkable progress in the development of computer network in China. According to Liu (2010:35), the academic and scientific sectors pioneered in developing and application of the Internet in China. The initial and by extension legendary Chinese computer network was dubbed the China Academic Network (CANET), which was created in the late 1980s to purposively build strong grounds for establishment of the field of computer science by facilitating data sharing and e-mail exchange among distant researchers working on similar subjects. CANET was then followed by other academic networks such as the Network of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) and the China Education and Research Network (CERNET) (Liu 2010: 35). The shortcomings associated with these computer networks was that they lacked direct connection to the internet despite forming the foundation for Internet use in China. The computer networks started as machine-to-machine links before evolving into groups of machines interconnections through the X.25 protocol on public data networks. The year 1994 saw the great forward leap in Chinese internet development after the increased Chinese desire to have advanced online connectivity was approved by the American esteemed internet agency. The event marked the first internet connection for China as a country (Liu 2010: 35). Nevertheless, the first active direct network internet connection in China was realized after the opening up of circuit in the national communication grid particularly preserved for the internet through the Sprint Corporation (SC), a foreign telecom firm in same year. The opening up of the dedicated circuit to the internet was undertaken by the government agencies for computing development, which involved a strong collaborative network involving the Chinese Academy of Science, Tsinghua University, and Beijing University. Following this development, China Public Computer Internet (Chinanet) began to construct its nationwide network and by the beginning of 1996, the organization was providing commercial internet services to the public. Despite scientists, researchers and university faculties in the major metropolitan centers being the only people who enjoyed access to internet in China before its commercialization, the internet in China has shown tremendous growth since its inception in the country. The Chinese people have embraced the digital lifestyle with an amazing pace taking into consideration this started in less than three centuries ago. One year after the public gained access to the internet, China Internet Network Information Center reported about 620, 000 users and by the new millennium, the figures for internet users in China hit 22.5 million people. Amazingly, the figure rose to 111 million by 2005 and 298 million Internet users in 2008 (Chau, Lai & Li 2008: 132). One of the latest recent situational research conducted by the Chinese center for internet network in 2010 revealed that China had about 384 million internet users with about 90 percent as broadband users, and about 16.8 million users as registered domain names (Zhao 2007: 9). In addition, the launch of the 3G business saw the number of mobile internet consumers rise to about 233 million users representing about 60.8 percent of the total number of internet users in China. The 3G application resulted into a 97.5% year-on-year in the number of Chinese internet users. However, the growth of in the mobile internet connectivity, home and workplace internet has greatly reduced the number of people visiting internet cafes. Challenges Encountered in the Development of Internet in China The exponential growth in internet access in China has been achieved amidst the stringent governmental control that has been believed to undermine most new business activities. China has been recognized as having the most sophisticated internet control regime in the world. Such controls include surveillance, high handedness in enforcement of provisions of the penal code, rules and regulations, and stringent punitive measures that scare citizens to a point of self-censorship; and stringent technical internet content restrictive measures. Since the establishment of the nationwide network, the Chinese government has enacted several extensive regulations regarding internet usage targeted at internet based operations and cyber data handlers, internet users and internet café operators (Chau, Lai & Li 2008: 133). The most recent regulations regard to national and local government secrets, cyber trade activities, journalism and new creation activities, and security of the cyber connections. The state has particularly made it illegal for content providers to disseminate information deemed by the government to be subversive and unhealthy for the Chinese internet users. The state regulations also limit the content to be forbidden on Chinese news groups and news sites, and restrain the dissemination of information from foreign media. In essence, the people’s government of China controls liberty in internet use in the country through such strategies as shutting down specific websites deemed unfit for the local institutions and the people, and advanced filtering of specified wordings by especially through the infamous Chinese firewall. These methods prevent any information deemed sensitive and undesirable by the government such as human rights, democracy, and Taiwanese independence and pornography. State agencies apply advanced intranet and tracking. Social Impact The introduction of internet has been met with mixed reactions with most scholars describing it as a double-edged sword. Internet has served as an embodiment and means of modernization, phenomena viewed as key to the development of China. The double-edged characteristic of internet has been applied to justify the government’s commitment in controlling the internet while relentlessly promoting technological growth across the country. The governmental concern about the new media include bad influence on social order and is reinforced by a widely shared internet anxiety among the general public, especially urban parents where the new technology has become part of their everyday life (Zhao 2007: 37). Internet has significantly spark-increased anxiety especially among the urban parents particularly due to the perceived internet bad influence on the morality of young generations. Chinese parents have viewed internet as a threat to the moral order of the society. They have also perceived the use of internet by young people as counterproductive to their academic achievement that has for long time been assessed through textbook based examinations. Nevertheless, the same parents have expressed the desire to keep their children abreast with the discourse of the information society. The influence of the cyberspace connectivity in China has infiltrated unprecedented transformations and changes in traditional Chinese social set up, and encouraged appearance of associations, and general proliferation of social organizations (Damm & Thomas 2006: 119). In addition, social organs and the ordinary Chinese people applaud the relative freedom of expression and the enhancement of communication that has been made possible for them by the internet, which is unaffected by the state power than in the pre-internet era. Through the growing social media networks facilitated by the internet, changes in the media functions and increase in space for public discussions have been experienced across China. The lives of the Chinese people have greatly been influenced by the flow of information from other countries in both developed and the developing nations. Despite Chinese long resistance to the influence of their culture by behaviors and moral stances of westerners, internet has made it easier for these cultures to penetrate and influence the Chinese culture. Economic Impact Stepping on the World Trade Organization (WTO) platform for economic coupling with global markets, China paced fast to optimize the bounty of economic advantages inherent in the internet’s ability in the lucrative information industry. Internet connectivity particularly played as critical role in opening up China to the rest of the world especially after remaining extremely secretive about their internal affairs. The Chinese government particularly promoted the widespread, market-based diffusion of information technology to reap its economic benefits but retained significant political control of the operations of the internet network within its territory (Law & Chu 2008: 5). Following the introduction of internet in China, the share of ICT attributed to the China’s GDP experienced tremendous growth almost doubling between 1995 and 2001(Damm & Thomas 2006: 129). The growth of ICT has been regarded as a key pillar for the general approach to China’s development with respect to attaining e-readiness. The wide application of internet in commercial activities has particularly played a critical role in the development of China owing to the exponential growth in the usage of internet across China. The Chinese internet industry has made tremendous contribution to the national economy with the overall economic growth attributed to the internet representing about 0.1225 percent of GDP. The Chinese internet game market has particularly had a great impact on the economy with its contributions estimated to be well above a scale of RMB9.1 hundred million. Other sectors have also had a significant impact on the economy, with the telecom industry contributing tremendously toward the development of the information technology sector (Eger, Faure & Naigen 2007: 234). Other than the direct impact of internet on the Chinese economy, information shared through the internet has led to increases in technological innovation, improvement of technological production and enhancement of organizational development. Internet has greatly revolutionized the entire Chinese industry leading to increased production and efficiency thereby contributing to the general growth of the economy (Law & Chu 2008: 4). Conclusion Although China lagged behind in embracing the internet technology, it has experienced exponential growth with number of internet users doubling every year since its inception. Internet connectivity first became a reality in China in 1987, although the great breakthrough was achieved in 1995 after its approval and the opening up of direct circuit to serve the Chinese community. From 1996, the number of internet users increased tremendously to reach about 384million users in 2010. The exponential growth has been attributed to several developments in the internet technology including the introduction of the 3G application that has enabled mobile internet access. Nevertheless, the growth has been limited by the Chinese government control through enactment of several regulatory policies to govern the use of internet in the country. The growth of internet usage in China has resulted in significant influence on both the economy and the social aspects of the Chinese people. The greatest social concern associated with the internet growth has been the erosion of the Chinese community moral standards and the fear moral corruptions among the young Chinese generations. In terms of economy, internet has had positive impact, especially in facilitating globalization and opening up of the Chinese economy to the rest of the world. Internet contributed directly to the Chinese GDP as well as other indirect contributions to the entire industry through the information shared through the internet. References Chan, A, Clancey, G & Loy, H 2001, Historical perspectives on East Asian science, technology, and medicine, World Scientific, New York. Chau, P, Lai, F & Li, D 2008, ‘What factors drive the assimilation of internet technologies in China?’ Communications of the ACM, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 132-35. Damm, J & Thomas, S 2006, Chinese cyberspaces: technological changes and political effects, Routledge, New York. Egar,T, Faure, M & Naigen, Z 2007, Economic analysis of law in china, Edward Elgar Publishing, New York. Law, P & Chu, W 2008, ‘ICTs and China: an introduction’, Knowledge Technology & Policy, vol. 21, pp. 3-7. Liu, F 2010, Urban youth in China: modernity, the internet and the self, Taylor & Francis, New York. Paltemaa, L & Vuori, J 2009, ‘Regime transition and the Chinese politics of technology: from mass science to the controlled Internet’, Asian Journal of Political Science, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-23. Zhao, J 2007, ‘ICT4D: internet adoption and usage among rural users in China’, Knowledge Technology & Policy, vol. 21, pp. 9-18. Read More