The statistical information on quantity of host computers, Internet users, the distribution of users and information traffics, the registration of domain names and the like are quite important for government decision makers and valuable for commercial enterprises to make their business decisions. In 1997, the relevant government department ruled that the statistical survey should be carried out by CNNIC with support of other domestic network organizations. In order to systemize the survey and make it regular, CNNIC conducts the semi-annual survey in each January and July since 1998. These survey reports were well accepted and widely cited by the public both domestic and overseas.

CNNIC had started offline sampling, and plan to conduct online survey from December 11 to 31. The survey questionaire is available on http://survey.cnnic.net.cn/survey/index.htm. The survey report will be released in January of 2004.