China's online population has reached 420 million by the end of June, according to a report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on Thursday.

The number is 36 million more than that of last December, the report said.

Internet-based business is also growing rapidly, the report said, noting that about 140 million people, or about 10 percent of China's entire population, had been shopping online.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2010)