China's per-capita share of Internet users has climbed above the world average for the first time, said a report yesterday by the China Internet Network Information Center.

The figure should grow even more in the next few years now that China has issued licenses for third-generation mobile phones that allow users to connect to the Internet at high speeds.

China's ratio of web users to its population surpassed the global average of 21.9 percent to reach 22.6 percent last year.

Japan was in first place among Asian countries with 73.8 percent while India registered only 5.2 percent.

Beijing and Shanghai are China's leading cities in net usage, with penetration rates around 60 percent.

The total number of Internet users in China reached 298 million - the most of any nation - on December 31. That represents a rise of 88 million, or 42 percent, from the year before, according to the 23rd Internet Development Report in China. The growth rate in 2007 was 53 percent.

Among the report's other findings, more than 270 million Internet users access cyberspace through broadband connections, around 91 percent of the total.

The number of people who used mobile phones to surf the net rose 113 percent from 2007 to 11.7 million as a result of increased wireless access and cuts in mobile phone prices and Internet traffic fees.

The report defined an Internet user as a Chinese citizen above six years old who had been on the web at least once within the past six months. It covered about 130,000 Chinese mainland residents in 31 cities and was based on telephone and online investigations.

The number of rural net users reached 8.46 million at the end of last year, up 60.8 percent from 2007. That growth rate was almost double urban users' 35.6 percent growth rate.

The difference in the Internet population between coastal cities and inland cities is expected to narrow in the future with the improvement of living standards in central and western China, the report suggested.

Net users are also seeking more diversified services brought by the Internet, the report found. Online job hunting, personal blogs and online shopping posted the fastest growth in the past year.

Online transaction volume between consumers and businesses surged more than 130 percent from 2007 and is expected to surpass 130 billion yuan (US$19.02 billion), according to a report by iResearch Inc.

(Shanghai Daily January 14, 2009)