18m under age of 10 use internet in China

A child play with an iPad in this file photo. [Photo/VCG]

The children's purpose of using the internet changes with their age. Those under eight often look for games and entertainment such as watching videos, and listening to stories; while senior primary school and middle school student use the web to play games and finish their homework, according the Tencent's report.

"The internet is a double-edged sword," Zhao Xia, a researcher with China Youth & Children Research Center, said.

"Parents worry that the internet affects their children's mental and physical health, and lower the social skills, etc, but the internet has also offered the kids new ways of learning, thinking, living and making friends. It's one of the important skills that they should acquire from a young age," Zhao said.

"Some parents think it would be safe if there was no internet access at home. But our survey has found the more the parents reject the internet, the more addictive their children would become," Sun Hongyang said.

Then there's the crucial question: how to provide safe internet to young users?

Sun advices that parents should be open-minded and get to know more about the internet themselves, lean from their children and grow with them.

A guidance conducted by Tencent and China Science Communication also suggests young Web users should not disclose personal information, should not trust any kind of "free lunches", no viewing of unhealthy contents, no opening of strange links and emails, and no meeting up with online friends alone.

"Online security should be part of the school course," Jiang Cheng, associate professor with Peking University, said.

Jiang added the courses should help the young people realize the dangers, and improve their security awareness.

Also the government should pitch in, said Xie Yongjiang, vice-director of Internet Governance and Law Research Center with Beijing University of Post & Telecommunication.

"The government should further regulate network operation, speed up the process of network legislation, improve legal supervision measures and eventually minimize the risks," Xie said.