China drängt an die Spitze der Internetnutzer

Es dürfte mittlerweile mehr Chinesen im Internet geben als US-Amerikaner:

Die USA sind nicht länger die unangefochtene Nummer Eins bei der Anzahl der Internet-Nutzer. Das bevölkerungsreichste Land der Welt hat aufgeschlossen – und wird wohl bald die Spitze übernehmen. In China nutzen gleichviel Menschen das Internet wie in den USA. Ende Februar gab es 221 Millionen Chinesen, die über einen Online-Zugang verfügten, wie die amtliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua am Donnerstag mitteilte. Dies entspricht einem Bevölkerungsanteil von 16 Prozent. Der weltweite Durchschnitt beträgt 19 Prozent. Für die USA hat das Institut Nielsen/NetRatings im März ebenfalls 221 Millionen Internet-Nutzer ermittelt. Anfang 2007 gab es in China erst 137 Millionen Menschen im Netz.

Der großen Koalition im Bundestag missfällt derweil laut einem brandneuen Antrag (PDF-Datei) die zunehmende Internet-Zensur in China und die gemeldeten Verhaftungen insbesondere von Bloggern.

China zum größten CO2-Verschmutzer gekürt

Laut kalifornischen Forschern hat China die USA beim Ausstoß an Kohlendioxid bereits überholt, sodass das Reich der Mitte nun als größter Treiber des Treibhauseffekts gilt:

China has already overtaken the US as the world's "biggest polluter", a report to be published next month says.
The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007. The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management.
They warn that unchecked future growth will dwarf any emissions cuts made by rich nations under the Kyoto Protocol.
The team admit there is some uncertainty over the date when China may have become the biggest emitter of CO2, as their analysis is based on 2004 data. Until now it has been generally believed that the US remains "Polluter Number One".
Next month's University of California report warns that unless China radically changes its energy policies, its increases in greenhouse gases will be several times larger than the cuts in emissions being made by rich nations under the Kyoto Protocol.
The researchers say their figures are based on provincial-level data from the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency.

China will als Outsourcing-Land punkten

China will Indien Marktanteile im luktrativen Geschäft mit Outsourcing-Aufträgen abjagen:

In the foothills of Yuelu Mountain here, a young Mao Tse-tung found inspiration in nature for his political aspirations. Today, Communist Party officials have a different vision for this area: a valley of global outsourcing firms. One of them, Beijing-based Chinasoft International Ltd., is recruiting hundreds of workers to process medical bills and health insurance claims. Its target customers: U.S. doctors. Chinasoft is launching the venture with a Tennessee firm, Premier BPO Inc., which has similar operations in India and Pakistan. Chen Yuhong, Chinasoft's managing director, thinks it's only a matter of time before China makes big gains against India -- which now leads the world in information technology outsourcing. "They're seriously concerned about our challenge," said Chen, 44, who has a doctorate in engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology and speaks fluent English. Most analysts reckon it'll be perhaps a decade before China catches up. India's IT outsourcing revenue, estimated at $18 billion in 2007, is about six times the size of China's. The gap figures to be even bigger for business-process outsourcing, such as medical billing and back-office work. With its history as a British colony, India has workers with strong English skills and familiarity with Western culture. That gives companies there a big edge when bidding for jobs that require reading reports and talking to Americans. But China's sales of IT outsourcing work are growing at roughly twice the rate of India's. Consulting firm Analysys International says they jumped 45% in the fourth quarter of 2007, to about $600 million. Although much of that was for clients in Japan and other Asian countries, China is making a push to extend its reach. In 2006, the central government launched the "Thousand, Hundred, Ten" project, aimed at cultivating 1,000 Chinese outsourcing companies that would cater to 100 international clients. Beijing wants to situate them in at least 10 cities. Some are familiar locales -- Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. But success or failure may come down to smaller cities largely unknown abroad.