Experts say China has become one of the countries in the world with the most developed online game industry and home-made online games can keep pace with or even lead the world.

This information has come from the recent annual conference on China's online game industry in Xiamen, Fujian Province.

26.34 million people in China play online games in 2005, up 30.1 percent over that in 2004. The market generated 3.77 billion yuan of sales revenue, soaring 52.6 percent over that in 2004.

The boom of the business brought more than 30 billion yuan directly to the sectors of telecommunication, information, commerce and publishing.

In 2005, 120 teams were engaged in designing their own online games, increasing by 37 percent from 73 in 2004. 192 online games were developed in 2005, a notable rise of 76 percent from 109 in 2004. The number of online game R&D staffs more than tripled to 12,600 in 2005 from 4,000 in 2004.

Data shows the majority of players are 19 to 25 years old, accounting for 61.7 percent of the group. Only 3.4 percent of players are below 16 years old. That is opposite with the ��supposed�� very young players.

However, 39.9 percent of online game players are school students. People in the IT industry and those at the management posts at enterprises and public institutions are the second and third largest groups of online game players. An official with China Game Publishers' Association said those people play online games to relax themselves from pressure.

By People's Daily Online