Top ten catch phrases in China since 1978 reform

"Surfing the Internet"

The Internet was introduced in China more than 10 years ago. It quickly gained popularity and impacted society.

While online music, instant communication services, video streaming and online games greatly entertained millions of Chinese, the Internet also became a powerful news medium where information was disclosed, shared and publicized quickly.

Through June, China had 221 million netizens, according to the Data Center of China Internet (DCCI). The netizen population, which had already surpassed that of the United States to become the world's largest, would increase to 263 million by the end of this year, DCCI forecasted.

E-commerce transactions amounted to 2 trillion yuan (about 300 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007 and 25 percent of netizens had bought something online after "surfing the Internet" as of June this year.