BEIJING, February 3 -- Almost half of China's Internet users were found to be focusing in on video-sharing websites which are home to millions of amateur films and animations.

About 76 million of the 137 million Chinese Internet users have visited YouTuBe-like webcasting websites last year, according to the Internet Guide 2007 released earlier this month by Internet Society of China and the Data Center of the China Internet.

"There were hardly any webcasting websites when we started in the business in April 2005. A year later there were already 200 websites offering webcast and podcast services on the Net," said Chen Weijia, from Tudou.com, the country's most popular video-sharing website.

A quick check of Tudou, which literally means potato (no explanation for the quirky name could be found on the site), shows the website has more than 1.1 million short videos or animations in more than a dozen different categories.

The website calls on netizens to become the "director of their own lives".

Tudou.com is also providing clips to a Shanghai television station and to Fujian-based Southeast TV which have developed their own programs to showcase the creativity of China's digital camera users.

The website has even signed an agreement with a local company to develop video-sharing using 3G technologies which could lead to people downloading the webcasts directly to their mobile phones.

"Webcasting is more about expressing oneself, while blogging is more about communicating with others," said Liu Liwei, a telecom employee in Beijing and a veteran "webcaster".

"Chinese are more confident and they more eager to express themselves. That's why webcasting is becoming more popular," he said.

The webcasting and podcasting industry brought in 40 million yuan (about 5 million U.S. dollars) last year, and revenues are expected to more than double this year, according to the Internet Soceity's report.

There were 137 million Internet users in China at the end of last year, 23.4 percent more than the year before. The number of blog users has also risen by almost a quarter to 19.87 million by last November.

Despite their growing popularity webcasters are facing an uncertain future.

The government is concerned the growing phenomena because the video uploads are not officially authorized and many use copyrighted material to produce mocking parodies of original film and television programs.

An unnamed official with the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV said the country will soon start checking online video broadcasting, and allow only licensed websites to continue offering webcasts.