This year, China's Internet population looks on track to surpass that of the US, making it the world's largest online community.

The Chinese government announced that the country's Internet population has risen to nearly 210 million people. China's online population grew 53 percent from the 137 million that was reported around the same time last year.

However, China needn't rest on its laurels as it lags behind the US in some respects.

For instance, China's penetration rate is 16 percent according to the official agency Xinhua. The US was at this point back in the mid 1990s. Currently, 75 percent of American adults are found to be online, as per the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Also, the term 'Internet penetration' means different things to the two countries.

In China, a majority of the people who can't afford a computer at home have access to Internet mainly through cyber cafes. One third of Chinese online users surf through cybercafes, Xinhua found. While 93 percent American online users have access to Internet from home, according to the Pew Project.

China promotes Internet use only for peaceful, business, and education purposes, blocking the public from viewing material deemed as pornographic or critical of the communist regime. Not so America which is a democracy in every sense of the term.

Commenting on the differences between the two countries, John Horrigan, director of Pew said the US and China are two countries at very different points along the Internet adoption curve. China is approximately 15 years behind, he said.

This is not to undermine China's online growth. Horrigan said that as more and more users go online in China, there's increasing demand for Internet content in Mandarin and other Chinese languages. Besides, it's learnt that the Chinese are accessing the Internet through mobile devices, offering China a distinct opportunity to shape the Internet through usage everywhere.