Xu Xiaohui often sleeps away the day in order to spend the night at the Internet cafe. He doesn't mind skipping meals, but he can't stand missing his Internet fix.

"I feel guilty. I do," says the sophomore from elite Hefei Polytechnical University in east China's Anhui Province. "I owe my parents a lot. They're both peasant farmers and had to borrow more than 20,000 yuan (about US$2,500) from close relatives to finance my college education."

But that doesn't stop him from repeatedly succumbing to the Internet temptation. In fact, the guiltier he feels, the greater his obsession with cyberspace, which eats away his time and money.

But the virtual world cannot protect him from the hard facts of reality: fail grades in seven courses last semester.

Internet addiction has proved to be the downside of information technology in China, a country with 111 million Internet users.

In a midnight spot check of 25 cyber cafes close to campus, officials of Hefei Polytechnical University, in the eastern Anhui Province, found about 800 students from nearby schools and universities chatting or playing games on the Internet.

"They were exhausted but feverish. Many looked stupified and apathetic to what was going on around them," says Song Liming, an official in charge of student affairs.

A new survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) shows that Internet addiction is to blame for 80 percent of those who have flunked out of Chinese colleges and universities, according to Gao Wenbin, a counselor with the CAS Institute of Psychology.

Internet addiction does not just undermine a student's work, but impairs their mental and physical health and leads to serious social problems, says a teacher with Nanjing Polytechnical University, in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

In an extreme case, a computer science major at a top university in Jiangxi Province received the death penalty for manslaughter. Wang Bin, an Internet addict who had become penniless, tried to commit a burglary in a residential building and killed the homeowner who caught him.

In an effort to curb the problem, universities have moved to impose a new order on their campuses with more interesting curricula and the promotion of healthier leisure activities.

Hefei Polytechnical University states in its evaluation system that Internet addicts will not be considered for any awards.

"We can do our best to keep the students from becoming addicted, but can do nothing to stop the illegal cyber cafes," says Song Liming. "It's crucial for government departments, Internet cafe operators, students and parents to work together for the protection of young people from addiction."

A survey conducted by the China Youth Association for Network Development show that 13.2 percent of "netizens" aged 13 to 35 are regarded as addicts.

In Beijing, 90 percent of juvenile crimes are connected with Internet addiction, says Prof. Tao Hongkai, a noted expert on Internet addiction among China's youth.

The State Council, China's central government, in November banned people under the age of 18 from Internet cafes and ordered all Internet bars and cafes to close by midnight.

Internet cafe operators breaking the rules will be fined up to 15,000 yuan (US$1,875) and in serious cases may lose their license.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2006)