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China has 338 million netizens now

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-16 16:37

China has 338 million Internet users as of the end of June, according to a report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

That is more than any other country, and represents a 13.4 percent increase since the end of 2008, when China had 298 million Internet users.

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In addition, registered websites using the ".CN" domain – which indicates a website is based in China – reached 12.96 million as of June 30. That is also the largest number of such nationally registered websites in the world.

Due to the rapid development of 3G mobile phone service, about 155 million people access the internet on their mobile phones, a 32.1 percent increase compared with half a year ago.

Finally, the report said that 87.88 million Internet users shop online now. That is 14 million more than six months ago. Analysts said the increase may be partly driven by the global financial crisis, since shopping online can often be cheaper than shopping in stores.

The report also noted that 320 million of the 338 million Internet users are currently broadband subscribers.