Mobile internet has caught up with web access through desktop computers, a Chinese study reveals.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, 538 million people in China, or around 40 per cent of its citizens, now access the Internet through smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, or in some other form.

The research found that mobile internet usage, which means using a mobile device to access the web, increased by 22 percent from last year, with 388 million Chinese internet users browsing online through their mobile devices.

Consequently, internet access via desktop computers dropped by 2.7 percent in the first half of this year alone.

Internet terminals in Beijing’s domestic airport. Image: Taiyo FUJII via Flickr (CC)

Several groups have called into question how the CCNIC metrics came into fruition, as it only measures Chinese residents above 6 years old who went online at least once over the past six months.

The numbers alone indicate that China now has the largest number of Internet users worldwide. However, it still falls behind countries such as South Korea and the U.S. in terms of percentage of its total population.

The CNNIC remarked that more than half of respondents who do not access the internet reasoned that they do not use it due to lack of “understanding computers or the Internet”.

About Francis Rey Balolong

A coffee junkie who spends most of his time writing about the latest news on social media and mobile technology. I would definitely consider myself a nerd (in the coolest most hipster way possible). That being said, I love technology, music, writing, and all things mobile. Follow me: Google+ Twitter

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