The Canton Tower and skyscrapers are illuminated during a rehearsal for the 2023 Guangzhou International Light Festival on November 20, 2023 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China. The 12th Guangzhou International Light Festival will be held from November 21 to 30. (Photo by Wu Wenjun/VCG via Getty Images)

A winter swimmer jumps into a pool in the frozen Songhua River during an activity for welcoming the Chinese New Year on January 30, 2022 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province of China. (Photo by Liu Yang/VCG via Getty Images)

A volunteer poses for a photograph with a snowman depicting the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, China on February 13, 2022. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

A health worker makes a heart with her hands while waiting to take swab samples from people in the Jing' an district of Shanghai on May 31, 2022, as the city prepares to lift more curbs after two months of heavy-handed restrictions. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

A municipal worker who helped with traffic control near a school is presented with flowers at the end of the national college entrance examinations, known as the gaokao, in Beijing, Friday, June 10, 2022. More than 11 million high school students throughout China took the annual college entrance exams which started on Tuesday after the country has just overcome severe COVID-19 outbreaks in Shanghai and Beijing, according to state media. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

This summer China opened its door to its first private bodyguard training company in Beijing. Genghis Security Academy offers rigorous training course which includes aquatic training, martial arts, vehicle safety training and other necessary skills. Photo: Female and male trainees run during a bodyguard training program at the boot camp of Genghis Security Academy in Beijing, China. (Photo by ImagineChina/The Grosby Group)

A model showcases designs on the catwalk during the NE(degrees)¤TIGER Couture 2012 on the second day of China Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 on October 25, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

“The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online. The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said”. – AP Business Writer

Photo: Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, works on the computer April 8, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)