China ended 2014 with nearly 650 million Internet users

According to a government report, China ended 2014 with more than 649 million Internet users, more than twice the size of the entire population of the United States. Smartphones were the dominant platform with more than 557 million of the country’s Internet users accessing the Internet through a mobile device.  

China had 649 million Internet users by the end of 2014, with 557 million of those using handsets to go online, said a government report on Tuesday, as the world’s biggest smartphone market continues its shift to mobile. While growth is slowing, China’s total Internet population still rose by 31 million in 2014, said the report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Growth in mobile internet users was faster, at 57 million. Riding this wave are some of China’s, and the world’s, biggest technology companies. These include e-commerce groups Alibaba and JD.com, social networking and video games firm Tencent, search giant Baidu and smartphone maker Xiaomi.