A fifth of China's 213 million Netizens are mobile users

According to recently released statistics, 23 percent of China's rapidly growing Internet user base accesses the Internet from mobile devices.

Graham Webster

Formerly a journalist and consultant in Beijing, Graham Webster is a graduate student studying East Asia at Harvard University. At Sinobyte, he follows the effects of technology on Chinese politics, the environment, and global affairs. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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Graham Webster

Jan. 17, 2008 7:25 a.m. PT

Several news stories have noted that China's Internet user base increased by more than 70 million in 2007 to a count of 213 million at year's end. Little noted is that 23 percent of these users access the Internet from mobile devices, the remainder counted as broadband users.

The statistics, released by the China Internet Network Information Center and reported by ChinaTechNews, do not seem to specify how many of these mobile users also use broadband, and I can't find data on whether people use broadband at home or at work.

CINIC also reported (translated) that almost 40 percent of users said the top reason they used the Internet is for instant messaging, edging out e-mail as the top application.