According to a new report on Internet resources in China in 2003, China had approximately 600,000 approved websites by the end of 2003, up 60.3% over 2002.

However, about 90 percent of the websites were in east, north and south China provinces, showing a growing gap between rich regions and less developed regions, the report indicated.

The report was developed by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and issued by the State Council Informatization Office. The report was issued yesterday.

Beijing, Guangdong province, Zhejiang province and Shanghai ranked as the top four for numbers of websites, accounting for 56.8% of the total, the report said. Internet resources were attracted to more developed regions and this will intensify the imbalanced development between east and west China, and between cities and the countryside. By 2003, China also saw nearly 17,000 online data banks, double the previous year.