6th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference

Since the mid-1990s, Internet usage in China has grown very rapidly. As of September 2007, China boasted 172 million Internet users, the world’s second largest, behind only the United States, and 523 million mobile phone users, by far the largest in the world. To track these developments, the Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) brings together academic scholars, policy analysts, industry leaders, journalists and legal practitioners from around the world.

This year, for the first time, this prestigious conference will take place in Hong Kong, China. As the attention of the world will be focused upon the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games, this timely event will explore the political, social, economic, cultural and institutional aspects of Internet development in China. With simultaneous translation in English and Mandarin, the event will be of great interest to anybody who studies Internet developments in China.

The conference theme, “China and the Internet: Myths and Realities,” calls attention to scholarly work that helps to separate fact from fiction about the Internet in China. Does the Internet bring more democracy to the country? Is there freedom of expression on the Internet? Does the Internet foster greater integration of China and its diaspora? Do the Chinese use the Internet for entertainment only? The conference will also feature the latest empirical research, as well as qualitative and critical studies of the meaning of information technologies in the Chinese world.