A third of the Chinese population uses internet

BEIJING - The number of Chinese people who use the internet has gone up to 420 million - about a third of the populaton - boosted by the rising number of cell phone connections.

This number recorded at the end of June 2010 shows an increase of 36 million from the number of internet users in December last year, a report by the China Internet Network Information Centre said.

The proportion of internet users to the total population in the country also rose to 31.8 percent at the end of June, compared to 28.9 percent at the end of 2009, Global Times reported.

Internet users who connect through cell phones have been the major force behind the rise in the country’s online population, according to the report.