Gamasutra has notes from an interesting talk on the history and nature of the Chinese MMO market.

In explaining some of the essential characteristics of the Chinese online gamer, Singman cited Deutsche Bank/iResearch findings on exactly why Chinese gamers want to play online games. According to the research, 16.44% of respondents want to do it to meet new friends, 15.60% to get special game items, 11.54% to accomplish missions, 9.90% to explore new game zones, 8.94% want PK (player versus player) ability, and 8.81% to ‘become a master’.