China's Internet population hits 123 million

The number of Chinese Internet users reached 123 million at the end of June, with two-thirds of them using broadband connections, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported on Wednesday.

The number of Chinese Internet users increased by 19.4 percent over the same period last year, CNNIC said.

As the number of Chinese Internet users grows, so has the number of users with broadband Internet connections, which grew by 45.3 percent over the last year. At the end of June, 77 million Internet users logged on with broadband Internet connections, CNNIC said, noting this represents two-thirds of the country's Internet population.

By comparison, CNNIC reported that just over half of Chinese Internet users had broadband access at the end of 2005.

China boasts the world's second-largest Internet population, behind the United States. However, less than 10 percent of the country's 1.3 billion population has Internet access, leaving plenty of room for continued growth.