The number of Chinese users of the third-generation (3G) mobile technology, or 3G, had hit 9.77 million by the end of October, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Tuesday.

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, the country's top three communication service providers, have invested over 102 billion yuan (US$14.9 billion) in 3G network construction this year, but this still falls short of its target investment of 143.5 billion yuan, according to MIIT figures.

Among the 9.77 million registered 3G users, China Mobile, the country's biggest wireless service provider, alone had 3.94 million.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2009)