BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup

Internet user growth
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-24 10:14

Low-rent housing

China's urban authorities have been ordered to spend 5 per cent of their revenues earned through land sales to build low-rent apartments, according to a Ministry of Finance circular.

The circular also requires municipal governments to allocate more funds to low-rent housing in their annual budgets, while the central government is to provide subsidies to local governments for low-rent housing.

Low-rent apartments are an essential part of China's housing security system. They are either built or sourced by the government and provided to poor urban families at discounted rents.

Internet user growth

The number of Internet users in China is impressive, according to the latest figures, but one official says the industry has no time to rest.

"The number 123 million seems to be quite a big number, but the penetration of the Internet in China is still just 9.4 per cent, so there is still plenty of room to develop," says Wang Enhai, information service director for the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC).

The CNNIC, based in Beijing, released the latest figures, which represent a 19.4 per cent growth since June 2005. It's an increase from the previous year-on-year growth rate of 18.4 per cent.
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