Chinese netizens reached 290 million by the end of November, up 14.6 percent from the figure for the end of June, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The country had 253 million netizens by the end of June, surpassing the United States as the world's number one in terms of numbers of Internet users.

More than 80 percent of the netizens surf the Internet throught broadband, of which about half use ADSL.

"Recent years have seen a rapid increase in Internet users in the country. China has stepped into the age of broadband connection," said MIIT vice head Lou Qinjian.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2008)