China's Internet Population Reaches 538 Million

China is already the world’s largest Internet market, and now it has hit a new milestone… 538 million Chinese are online. It’s up 11 percent from a year ago, according to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center, or CNNIC.

 

The Center says there were 25 million new Web users since the end of 2011, encompassing 39.9% of Chinese. The main reason for the increase… smartphone sales, which make up over 388 million Web users. Their price has gone down significantly, helping increase their popularity.

 

And for the first time, there are more mobile Web users than desktop users, a milestone that was surpassed in the first half of the year. But one thing that’s unclear is how many users are only getting online with smartphones or use multiple platforms.