457 million netizens and counting

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) has published its 27th China Internet Development Statistics Report which shows that at the end of 2010 China had 457 million internet users (or netizens as CNNIC describes them), more than the combined population of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Total broadband internet users reached 450 million, with penetration among fixed line internet users reaching 98.3%. China’s mobile internet users numbered 303 million, up 69.3 million year-on-year. Mobile internet users accounted for 66.2% of total internet users, up from 60.8% at the end of 2009. The number of rural internet users reached 125 million, or 27.3% of total users, an increase of 16.9%.