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China's internet users outnumber US population

AP

In this 30 June 2009 file photo, customers surf the Internet at an Internet cafe in Beijing, China. China’s online population outnumbers the entire population of the United States, totaling 338 million by the end of June.File photo/AP/Greg Baker/China

More people now go online in China than there are people in the United States.

The country’s rapid economic growth and expansion of Internet access in more areas has fueled a sharp increase in Internet users, totaling 338 million by the end of June, a government-sanctioned research group said Thursday.

That is a 13.4 percent jump since the end of 2008, the China Internet Network Information Centre said in a report.

The latest US Census Bureau’s figure says the population of the US is just under 307 million. China’s population is more than 1.3 billion.

China’s population of Internet users has been growing at explosive rates despite government efforts to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic.

But Internet penetration is still only 25.5 percent, the center said. The Pew Internet and American Life Project places US online penetration at more than 70 percent.

Internet use on mobile phones has increased 32.1 percent since the beginning of the year to 155 million led by rising use by rural dwellers, the report said.

China this year rolled out its third-generation mobile phone service — which supports wireless Web surfing — which is expected to set off a new surge in Internet use.

Copyright © 2009 AP

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