About 35 per cent of urban Chinese consumers have smartphones, the third-highest level in the world. According to a survey jointly conducted by Google Inc and research service company Ipsos, China ranks behind Singapore and Australia, with 62 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

According to the survey, smartphone users in China use their devices to surf the Internet (50 per cent), listen to music (43 per cent), send e-mails (41 per cent) and search for information (37 per cent).

According to the China Internet Networks Information Center (CNNIC), China's population of Internet users hit 485 million at the end of June 2011. [in "China Daily", 11/09/11, www.chinadaily.com.cn]

The Internet was introduced to China by the government in 1994. As well as the obvious benefits of global digital communication, the Internet, in the eyes of the administration, brought with it the possibility for criminals, terrorists and anti-government dissidents to communicate and coordinate in an easy and uncontrollable manner. Thus in 1998, the government started a project entitled 'Golden Shield' for controlling the flow of communication nationally. It has become known as ‘The Great Firewall of China’ and is enforced through legislation designed to control Internet usage.