我国手机网民已占据半壁江山

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Half China's Internet Users Surf with Mobiles

Almost fifty percent of Internet users in China surf the web using mobile devices.

China's mobile Internet population has seen an explosive growth of 32.1 percent in the first half of 2009, totaling 155 million at the end of June, according to a report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (cnnIC) Thursday.

The joint efforts of the government and operators to boost third-generation (3G) services are set to benefit from the rising popularity of mobile Internet access, as 46 percent of China's 338 million Internet users now access the web with their cell phones.

cnnIC said the increasing use of cell phones by rural dwellers has contributed to the rising mobile Internet numbers.

Among China's total Internet users, most access the web for news, entertainment and social networking. Online shopping has also been gaining popularity with the number of shoppers jumping by 14 million in six months to 87.9 million by June.

The cnnIC report said China's Internet penetration is still only 25.5 percent, surpassing the global average 21.9 percent but still lagging behind developed countries like South Korea at 76.1 percent and the United States at 74.7 percent.