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Government to Promote Internet Cafes

The Chinese Ministry of Culture recently set up a special organ in August to promote the country's 113,000 Internet cafes, which have a yearly income of 25.68 billion yuan (about US$3.2 billion).

The new organ, known as the Center for the Promotion of the Internet Cafe Industry, is subordinate to the Ministry of Culture.

China has more than one billion Internet surfers. Though many families and offices have Internet access, Internet bars serve about 40 million people a day, according to official figures.

About 1.05 million people are employed by Internet cafes that house about 8.28 million computer sets. Current industry and associated enterprises' revenues are valued at about 128.2 billion yuan (US$18 billion).