Free WiFi is coming to Beijing by 2011, according to a report in Beijing Business Today.

Though a free WiFi network was available in Beijing during last year’s Olympics, the new network is expected to cover a wider area and be more reliable and accessible.

This, I think, makes Beijing poised for an incredible boom in information appliances (which we define as non-PC electronics with WiFi connections and LCD screens).

Here’s why: China is a key manufacturing hub for electronics and computers, and is also a source of innovation in some of those areas. Combine that with a free WiFi network that blankets a city of nearly 17.5 million people and you’ve got pretty fertile soil for new developments to spring from.

By way of comparison, Beijing’s population is larger than that of all of Pennsylvania or Illinois, and is close to the size of Florida. If you put a free WiFi network in one of those states and combined substantial business in the information appliance industry, wouldn’t you expect a boom in innovation?

It will be interesting to keep an eye on China for these kinds of developments over the next few years. For information appliance companies, it may be the next major market.