China's Internet industry potential is great, but most of its affluent population has yet to get online Internet usage in China has grown rapidly in recent years but the conditions are not yet right for e-commerce to take off, according to a financial analyst who tracks the sector.“It’s still very early,” said Safa Raschty, a senior analyst at investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co., speaking at the Piper Jaffray China Internet & Technology Conference in Beijing. “It’s premature to get excited about [e-commerce in China] during 2006 and 2007.”Part of the reason is demographic. China has the world’s second-largest Internet population, with more than 111 million users, but most of the country’s affluent population has yet to get online, according to Raschty. Instead, most of China’s Internet users are young, with up to 70 percent under the age of 25, he said. While e-commerce is not set to boom in China, other Internet industries will show strong growth in coming years, Ratschty said.Online gaming, for example, saw revenue growth of 38 percent last year and drew 25 million users in China. Internet advertising also grew quickly last year, increasing by 30 percent. That growth will accelerate this year, Raschty said, calling Internet advertising the sector with the greatest potential during the coming year.Internet payment and search also will see rapid growth, he said. Overall, Raschty was optimistic about the growth potential of China’s Internet industry. “China is the greatest growth market,” he said. Technology Industry